Controllable discrete Talbot self-imaging effect in Hermitian and non-Hermitian Floquet superlattices

We investigate the discrete Talbot self-imaging effect in Floquet superlattices based on a mesh of directional couplers with periodically varying separation between waveguides, both theoretically and numerically. The modulated discreteness of the lattices sets strong constraints to ensure the Talbot effect generation. We show that discrete Talbot effect occurs only if the incident periods are N = 1, 2, and 4 in dispersive regimes of the Hermitian superlattices. In both dynamic localized and rectification regimes, self-imaging effect can occur for arbitrary input period N. For the rectification case, Talbot distance equals the input period. In the regime of dynamical localization, the Talbot distance remains unchanged irrespective of the pattern period. For non-Hermitian Floquet superlattices, due to the non-zero imaginary part of quasi-energy spectrum arising at the center of the Brillouin zone, where the mode degeneracy occurs, Talbot revival is not preserved when the input period is an even number, and exists only as N = 1 in the dispersive regime. The theoretical calculations and numerical simulations verify each other completely.(c) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement