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Experiment 2 - A Flexible Diffraction Grating

 

PDMS may be cured in contact with the raised surface of a diffraction grating, copying the surface features and making the polymer slab a flexible, transparent diffraction grating. The polymer properties of this grating may be used in a number of experiments.

 

Materials

 

Procedure

Figure 2. Recommended mold for making the flexible diffraction grating.

 

Explorations

Figure 3. Diffraction of a laser beam with the PDMS slab.

Figure 4. Distortion of a diffraction pattern by distortion of the diffraction grating.

As the diffraction grating is stretched in a particular direction, the diffraction pattern contracts in that same direction. This is referred to as the reciprocal lattice effect and is a result of the wave nature of light.

Squeezing the diffraction slab fabricated above results in an increase in spacing between the diffraction spots.

Figure 5. Squeezing a diffraction grating.

Figure 6. Heating a diffraction grating.

Figure 7. Solvent swelling a diffraction grating.

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Experiment 1 - The "Intial" Stamp

Experiment 3 - Bouncing PDMS Balls

Experiment 4 - Surface Treatment of PDMS


Exploring the Nanoworld   |   MRSEC Nanostructured Interfaces
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