[Physics] What happens if separation between slits is greater than separation between slits and screen in YDSE experiment

double-slit-experimentinterferencevisible-light

I was studying Young's double slit experiment (YDSE) in which it was derived that the formula for path difference ($\delta x$) is :
$$\delta x = \frac{y \cdot d}{D}$$
Where $y$ is the vertical position of the point where interference occurs, $d$ is the separation between the slits and $D$ is the distance between the slits and the screen.

This formula was derived under the condition that $\lambda << d << D$ (note that $\lambda$ is the wavelength of the light used).

Now my doubt is what happens if $d > D$ ? I had tried searching for answers but couldn't find any.

Thanks !

Best Answer

If d>D, practically none of the light from the two slits will overlap on the screen. Without overlap there is no interference.

If the slits are extremely thin, light will spread over a wider angle from each slit, so D can be smaller and still allow overlap -- and interference -- between the light from the two slits.

To get a good sense of how the slit width affects the beam spread from a slit, see Fraunhofer diffraction.