Fresnel Diffraction Images of Periodic Objects under Gaussian Beam Illumination

The Fresnel diffraction field of plane periodic objects under single TEM 00 mode gaussian beam illumination is studied. Use of the Fresnel-Kirchhoff diffraction formula allows the axial localization and lateral magnification, the basic parameters of the diffraction images, to be determined. The analysed self-imaging phenomenon and the case of uniform beam illumination are compared and discussed.