Spectroscopy via diffraction gratings with different spacings

AI Thread Summary
Different diffraction gratings with varying line spacings affect the observation of emission lines from gases like Hydrogen and Neon by altering the dispersion of colors. Closer line spacing results in a greater spread of colors, allowing for better resolution of closely spaced spectral lines, such as the sodium doublet. Experiments indicate that using gratings with more lines per millimeter can reveal additional colors, enhancing visibility. However, it is a misconception that tighter spacing prevents certain wavelengths from passing through. Overall, the choice of diffraction grating significantly influences the spectral analysis of light emissions.
quantumkiko
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
What's the difference when I observe the emission lines of say, Hydrogen or Neon, on two diffraction gratings having different line spacings? Will there be colors that will only be observed in one and not the other? Thank you!
 
Science news on Phys.org
The different spacings will spread out the colors differently. Generally, the closer the spacing, the more spread out the colors will be. So, if before you couldn't resolve a doublet which is very close to each other (e.g. the sodium doublet), you may able to resolve it using a diffraction grating with closer spacing.
 
Thank you! I actually did the experiment and I thought I saw more colors when I changed to a grating having more lines per mm. I also thought that the spacings had become too little for some wavelengths of visible light to pass through, but I was wrong.

Thanks for the answer and have a nice day.
 
Thread 'A quartet of epi-illumination methods'
Well, it took almost 20 years (!!!), but I finally obtained a set of epi-phase microscope objectives (Zeiss). The principles of epi-phase contrast is nearly identical to transillumination phase contrast, but the phase ring is a 1/8 wave retarder rather than a 1/4 wave retarder (because with epi-illumination, the light passes through the ring twice). This method was popular only for a very short period of time before epi-DIC (differential interference contrast) became widely available. So...
I am currently undertaking a research internship where I am modelling the heating of silicon wafers with a 515 nm femtosecond laser. In order to increase the absorption of the laser into the oxide layer on top of the wafer it was suggested we use gold nanoparticles. I was tasked with modelling the optical properties of a 5nm gold nanoparticle, in particular the absorption cross section, using COMSOL Multiphysics. My model seems to be getting correct values for the absorption coefficient and...
Back
Top