Fourier-based analysis of phase shifts in the superposition of periodic layers and their moiré effects

I. Amidror, R.D. Hersch

Journal of the Optical Society of America A, Vol. 13, No. 5, May 1996, 974-987

A Fourier-based approach is presented for the investigation of multi-layer superpositions of periodic structures and their moiré effects. This approach fully explains the properties of the superposition of periodic layers and of their moiré effects, both in the spectral domain and in the image domain. In the present contribution we concentrate on showing how this approach provides also a full explanation of the various phenomena which occur due to phase shifts in one or more of the superposed layers. We show how such phase shifts influence the superposition as a whole, and in particular, how they affect each moiré in the superposition individually: We show that each of the individual moirés in the superposition undergoes a different shift, in its own main direction, whose size depends both on the moiré parameters and on the shifts of the individual layers. However, phase shifts in the individual layers do not necessarily lead to a solid shift of the whole superposition, and they may rather cause modifications in its micro-structure. We demonstrate our results by several illustrative figures.

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