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The Airy Disk and Diffraction Limit

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The Airy Disk and Diffraction Limit

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  • Author: Greg Hollows, Nicholas James
When light passes through any size aperture (every lens has a finite aperture), diffraction occurs. The resulting diffraction pattern, a bright region in the center, together with a series of concentric rings of decreasing intensity around it, is called the Airy disk. The diameter of this pattern is related to the wavelength (λ) of the illuminating light and the size of the circular aperture, which is important since the Airy disk is the smallest point to which a beam of light can be focused. As focused Airy patterns from different object details approach one another, they begin to overlap. When the overlapping patterns create enough constructive interference to reduce contrast, they eventually become indistinguishable from each other.

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