diffraction pattern

British  

noun

1. physics the distinctive pattern of light and dark fringes, rings, etc, formed by diffraction

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diffraction pattern Scientific  

1. The interference pattern that results when a wave or a series of waves undergoes diffraction, as when passed through a diffraction grating or the lattices of a crystal. The pattern provides information about the frequency of the wave and the structure of the material causing the diffraction.

2. See also interferometer

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Example Sentences

The resulting measurements revealed a distinct diffraction pattern, confirming wave-like behavior.

From Science Daily • Apr. 28, 2026

One PSF basically describes how an infinitely small point source of light originating in the sample is widened and spread into a three-dimensional diffraction pattern by the optical system.

From Science Daily • Nov. 19, 2024

The primary mirror shape creates a six-pointed diffraction pattern for sufficiently bright sources: each “spike” in this pattern stretches toward one of the points of a hexagon.

From Scientific American • Jul. 21, 2022

The key piece of evidence, ‘Photograph 51’, showed the diffraction pattern of DNA and was taken, under the supervision of crystallographer Rosalind Franklin, by then-graduate student Raymond Gosling16.

From Nature • Nov. 4, 2019

Then, however, my main concern was her description of the crystalline X-ray diffraction pattern.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson