Abstract

The Fraunhofer diffraction pattern of a slit aperture formed between a reference knife-edge and a metal-cylinder surface is different from that of an ideal slit aperture. This pattern should include reflected light coming from both the front and rear sides of a cylinder surface. To investigate the influence of light reflected from the cylinder surface, we discuss the theoretical consideration based on the simple model of the reflected light on the surface. The experimental setup is designed and constructed to measure the actual diffraction pattern produced by the slit between the knife-edge and the cylinder surface. As a result it is obvious that the reflection of diffracted light on the rear side is dominant in both the simulation and the experiment.

© 1995 Optical Society of America

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