Light field image sensors based on the Talbot effect

We present a pixel-scale sensor that uses the Talbot effect to detect the local intensity and incident angle of light. The sensor comprises two local diffraction gratings stacked above a photodiode. When illuminated by a plane wave, the upper grating generates a self-image at the half Talbot depth. The second grating, placed at this depth, blocks or passes light depending upon incident angle. Several such structures, tuned to different incident angles, are sufficient to extract local incident angle and intensity. Furthermore, arrays of such structures are sufficient to localize light sources in three dimensions without any additional optics.