FRACTIONAL TALBOT EFFECT - ANALYSIS IN PHASE-SPACE

The Fresnel diffraction of periodic objects at rational fractions of t he Talbot distance is described in terms of the Wigner distribution fu nction (WDF). The analysis provides a heuristic model for understandin g the formation of the diffraction patterns as well as for evaluating the complex amplitude at any fractional Talbot plane. Furthermore, cer tain symmetry properties of the Fresnel-diffracted wave field can be d erived directly from the WDF. Additionally, a discussion is given on h ow periodic signals and information about the phase are encoded in the WDF. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America