Effects of a Small Inclination Misalignment in Talbot Interferometry by use of Gratings with Arbitrary Line Orientation. I. Theoretical Analysis.

We discuss the effects of a general small inclination misalignment, which is formed by rotation of the beam-splitter grating around an axis that is laid on the grating plane and that has an arbitrary angle with respect to the line direction of the grating, between the two grating planes on the moiré fringes in Talbot interferometry. It is shown that the small inclination angle has a significant influence on measurement results based on Talbot interferometry because both the period and the slope of the moiré fringes are sensitive to the angle, especially when the rotation axis is nearly parallel to the lines of the grating. Simple and practical detection methods for the small inclination angle are proposed, and the effects of the inclination angle on the contrast in the moiré fringes are also briefly discussed.