Abstract
In 1948 Ernst Lau described a diffraction experiment, whereby the object was illuminated by an extended white light source. The object consisted of two coarse gratings, positioned behind each other at a distance of a few centimeters. Colored fringes appear at infinity. We present an explanation, based on diffraction theory. We also note similarities to Talbot's effect called “self-imaging”, or sometimes “Fourier-imaging”. A specific application of the Talbot effect, the Talbot interferometer, is equivalent to the Lau effect in terms of the theory of partial coherence. Based on this equivalence we suggest two applications of the Lau effect, a simple interferometer and a Fourier spectrometer.
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