Abstract

A type of scalable self-imaging capable of variable magnification or minification of periodic objects is demonstrated in the focal plane of a lens illuminated by a point source. The theory and the experimental results show that the self-imaging phenomenon can also be realized in the focal plane of a lens regardless of whether the distances satisfy the lens formula or not. The particular property of this scalable self-imaging effect is that the images in the focal plane can be controlled with different scaling factors only when the distances between the point source and the periodic object satisfy a certain condition. This discovery should open a new field of diffraction imaging and new application opportunities in precision measurement.

© 2020 Chinese Laser Press

On the generality of the Talbot condition for inducing self-imaging effects on periodic objects

Luis Romero Cortés, Hugues Guillet de Chatellus, and José Azaña
Opt. Lett. 41(2) 340-343 (2016)

Talbot effect of quasi-periodic grating

Chong Zhang, Wei Zhang, Furui Li, Junhong Wang, and Shuyun Teng
Appl. Opt. 52(21) 5083-5087 (2013)

Talbot effect in arrays of helical waveguides

Kaiyun Zhan, Lichao Dou, Ruiyun Jiao, Wenqian Zhang, and Bing Liu
Opt. Lett. 46(2) 322-325 (2021)

Advanced mask aligner lithography: Fabrication of periodic patterns using pinhole array mask and Talbot effect

Lorenz Stuerzebecher, Torsten Harzendorf, Uwe Vogler, Uwe D. Zeitner, and Reinhard Voelkel
Opt. Express 18(19) 19485-19494 (2010)

Discrete Talbot effect in two-dimensional waveguide arrays

Zhenhua Chen, Yong Zhang, and Min Xiao
Opt. Express 23(11) 14724-14733 (2015)