Spectral Talbot effect: interpretation via band diagrams

We discuss the spectral Talbot effect that was recently reported by Wang et al. [Opt. Lett. 29 (2004) 1590]. We show that it can naturally be interpreted in terms of the band diagram of a grating, which shows the position of the one-dimensional photonic bandgap as a function of position. We also confirm that it can be understood in the same way as the temporal Talbot effect.