Illuminated width for spectral resolution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-a-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/paper-2/section-b/b8/illuminated-width-for-spectral-resolution

Near order , the first angular zero from a principal maximum is . Two wavelengths have peak separation . Equating them applies the Rayleigh criterion and gives the resolving power of a diffraction grating,
Here the required resolving power is , so in second order . The illuminated width is therefore
Whether one counts the full illuminated window or the first-to-last slit-centre distance changes the width by one pitch and is immaterial at this precision. The result assumes negligible aberrations and adequate slit illumination and coherence.

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