Young’s double slit experiment:
The phenomenon of interference was first observed and demonstrated by Thomas Young in 1801. The experimental set up is shown in Figure.
Light from a narrow slit S, illuminated by a monochromatic source, is allowed to fall on two narrow slits A and B placed very close to each other. The width of each slit is about 0.03 mm and they are about 0.3 mm apart. Since A and B are equidistant from S, light waves from S reach A and B in phase. So A and B act as coherent sources.
Fig: Young’s double slit experiment
According to Huygen’s principle, wavelets from A and B spread out and overlapping takes place to the right side of AB. When a screen XY is placed at a distance of about 1 metre from the slits, equally spaced alternate bright and dark fringes appear on the screen. These are called interference fringes or bands. Using an eyepiece the fringes can be seen directly. At P on the screen, waves from A and B travel equal distances and arrive in phase. These two waves constructively interfere and bright fringe is observed at P. This is called central bright fringe.
When one of the slits is covered, the fringes disappear and there is uniform illumination on the screen. This shows clearly that the bands are due to interference.
