The characteristics of annular amplitude and phase filters are compared. The behavior of two-zone phase and amplitude filters as the inner zone is increased is studied in detail. Numerical simulations show that a phase filter can achieve a superresolution effect, a circular Dammann effect, and flat-topped intensity for different applications, whereas a two-zone amplitude filter can generate only a superresolution effect. The experimental results show that both amplitude and phase filters can achieve superresolution. Generally, a phase superresolution filter is recommended for its higher efficiency and its special diffraction patterns that are impossible to achieve with an amplitude filter.

The Talbot effect of a grating with different kinds of flaws is analyzed with the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The FDTD method can show the exact near-field distribution of different flaws in a high-density grating, which is impossible to obtain with the conventional Fourier transform method. The numerical results indicate that if a grating is perfect, its Talbot imaging should also be perfect; if the grating is distorted, its Talbot imaging will also be distorted. Furthermore, we evaluate high-density gratings by detecting the near-field distribution with the scanning near-field optical microscopy technique. Experimental results are also given.

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