The Talbot Effect

Abstract

The Talbot effect, also referred to as self-imaging or lensless imaging, was originally discovered in the 1830's by Henry Fox Talbot. Over the years, various investigators have found different aspects of this phenomenon, and a theory of the Talbot effect capable of explaining the various observations based on the classical theory of diffraction has emerged. Unfortunately, many of the standard Optics textbooks do not discuss the Talbot effect. The goal of the present paper is to bring to the reader's attention the essential features as well as an elementary explanation of this wonderful phenomenon.