title: Polarization-dependent Talbot effect.
abstract: The term "polarization-dependent Talbot effect" means that the Talbot self-imaging intensity of a high-density grating is different for TE and TM polarization modes. Numerical simulations with the finite-difference time-domain method show that the polarization dependence of the Talbot images is obvious for gratings with period d between 2 lambda and 3 lambda. Such a polarization-dependent difference for TE and TM polarization of a high-density grating of 630 lines/mm (corresponding to d/lambda=2.5) is verified through experiments with the scanning near-field optical microscopy technique, in which a He-Ne laser is used as its polarization is changed from the TE mode to the TM mode. The polarization-dependent Talbot effect should help us to understand more clearly the diffraction behavior of a high-density grating in nano-optics and contribute to wide application of the Talbot effect.
authors.affiliation: Information Optics Laboratory, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Academia Sinica, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 800-211, Shanghai 201800, China.
authors.forename: Yunqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Changhe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Shunquan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang