Diffraction Limit for a Periodic Pinhole Array

In previous research studies that far-field diffraction has been applied to analyze all the image shaping problems with respect to a circular small aperture (pinhole) in a rectangular array without taking the degraded quality of the shaped image due to the translation effect among small apertures (pinholes) into account, or else, the problems were analyzed via mathematical derivation. The results of such studies were not only insufficiently concrete they also failed to satisfy the rules for a photo mask design. This paper offers a prompt and precise method to conduct an in-depth research concerning the causes of "blurring" generated by the translation effect of a small aperture (pinhole) that leads to the fractured quality of image shaping in an array while shaping the image at a circular pinhole array. It points out that the applicable conditions of image shaping of a circular pinhole in a rectangular array shall be redefined by a theoretical understanding of the near-field effect; additionally it provides certain embodied and useful reference rules for the design of a photo mask at a circular pinhole in a rectangular array.