Measuring vector field correlations using diffraction

Miguel Alonso (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) , Katelynn Sharma (6) , Gregory Costello (6) , Esteban Vélez-Juárez (7) , Thomas Brown (6)

1 University of Rochester [USA]
2 MOSAIC - MOSAIC
3 FRESNEL - Institut FRESNEL
4 ECM - École Centrale de Marseille
5 AMU - Aix Marseille Université
6 The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester
7 BUAP - Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla

We present a method for efficiently measuring the 2 × 2 correlation matrix for paraxial partially coherent beams by using diffraction from small apertures and obstacles. Several representations for this matrix function of four spatial variables are discussed and illustrated with experimental results, including various alternative definitions of the spatial degree of coherence.

Keywords: Coherence; Spatial coherence; OCIS codes: (0301640) Coherence; (0501940) Diffraction; (0702580) Paraxial wave optics

Domains: Physics [physics]; Physics [physics]; Optics [physics.optics]

Miguel Alonso, Katelynn Sharma, Gregory Costello, Esteban Vélez-Juárez, Thomas Brown. Measuring vector field correlations using diffraction. Optics Express, 2018, 26 (7), ⟨10.1364/OE.26.008301⟩. ⟨hal-01790608⟩