Limit of Resolution
Resolution is the distance at which a lens can barely distinguish two separate objects.
Resolution is limited by aberrations and by diffraction. Aberrations can be minimized, but
diffraction is unavoidable; it is due to the size of the lens compared to the wavelength of
the light.
Rayleigh’s criterion relates the size of the central spot to the limit at which two objects
can be distinguished:
If the first dark fringe of one circular diffraction pattern passes through the center of a
second diffraction pattern, the two sources responsible for the patterns will appear to be a
single source.
The size of the spot increases with wavelength, and decreases with the size of the
aperture.
Resolution-Rayleigh criterion
Two wavelength/objects are just resolved when the maximum
of one lies at the first minimum of the other.
Unresolved Rayleigh criterion Resolved
Limits of Resolution;
Circular Apertures
When a lens forms the
image of a point object,
the image in fact is θ
diffraction pattern. For a
circular aperture of
diameter D, the central
maximum has an angular
width:
1.22
(rad)
D
Limits of Resolution; Circular
Apertures
The Rayleigh criterion states that two images are just
resolvable when the center of one peak is over the first
minimum of the other.
Example: Hubble Space Telescope.
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a reflecting telescope that was placed
in orbit above the Earth’s atmosphere, so its resolution would not be limited
by turbulence in the atmosphere. Its objective diameter is 2.4 m. For visible
light, say λ = 550 nm, estimate the improvement in resolution the Hubble
offers over Earth-bound telescopes, which are limited in resolution by
movement of the Earth’s atmosphere to about half an arc second. (Each
degree is divided into 60 minutes each containing 60 seconds, so 1° = 3600
arc seconds.)
1.22 1.22 5.50 10 7
2.8 10-7 (rad) 5.77 10 2 (arc sec)
D 2.4
Almost 10 times better.
Example: Eye resolution.
You are in an airplane at an altitude of 10,000 m. If you look down at the
ground, estimate the minimum separation s between objects that you could
distinguish. Could you count cars in a parking lot? Consider only diffraction, and
assume your pupil is about 3.0 mm in diameter and λ = 550 nm.
Eye’s resolution: 1.22 1.22 5.50 10 7
3
2.24 10 4
(rad)
D 3.0 10
Distinguishable separation s:
θ s
l
s l 10000 2.24 10 4 2.24 m
That’s about the size of a car.
Resolution of Microscopes; the λ Limit
For microscopes, assuming the object is at the focal point, the
resolving power is given by
1.22
(rad)
D
Resolution Microscopes; the λ Limit
Typically, the focal length of a microscope
lens is half its diameter, which shows that it
is not possible to resolve details smaller
than the wavelength being used:
Resolution of the Human Eye and Useful
Magnification
The human eye can resolve objects that are about 1 cm apart
at a distance of 20 m, or 0.1 mm apart at the near point.
This limits the useful magnification of a light microscope to
about 500x–1000x.
250nm 2.5 10 7 m
2
500 1.25 10 4 m 0.1mm
2
Diffraction Grating
A diffraction grating consists of a large number (N) of equally spaced narrow slits
or lines. A transmission grating has slits, while a reflection grating has lines that
reflect light.
N=2
The more lines or slits there are, the
narrower the peaks. I0 N2.
Principal maxima (θ can be large):
N=6
Example: Diffraction grating: lines.
Determine the angular positions of the first- and second-order maxima for
light of wavelength 400 nm and 700 nm incident on a grating containing
10,000 lines/cm.
1
d 110 4 cm 1.0 10 6 m
10000
The first-order maximum:
4.0 10 7
sin 400 0.4, 400 23.6
d 1.0 10 6
4.0 10 7
sin 700 6
0.7 , 700 44.4
d 1.0 10
The second-order maximum:
2 2 4.0 10 7
sin 400 6
0.8, 400 53.1
d 1.0 10
2 2 7.0 10 7
sin 700 6
1.4, No second - order maximum.
d 1.0 10
