Improved fabrication of circular-grating microstructured devices using partially spatially incoherent ultraviolet laser light

We report an effective and practical method for improving the fabrication quality of microstructures by reducing the optical coherence when a dye-doped photoresist thin film is exposed to an ultraviolet laser light source through a transparency photomask with a circular-grating pattern. By using a rotating diffuser to transform the coherent ultraviolet laser light into a low coherence light source instead, the laser light-induced defects of the fabricated microstructured device can be reduced substantially. Besides, we have also demonstrated that as the coherence level of the partially spatially incoherent ultraviolet laser light is lowered successively, the quality of the ring-shaped microstructures can be improved gradually.     

Synthesis of spatial coherence

The mutual intensity function plays a major role in characterizing quasi-monochromatic, partially coherent optical signals. We propose to use the mutual intensity as a carrier of information to avoid speckle noise in coherent illumination systems and to permit the use of complex functions that are prohibited spatially incoherent sources. To do this we require methods for encoding the information as a coherence function. An optical system for synthesizing a beam with a given mutual intensity function is proposed. The optical system permits the synthesis of any desired mutual intensity function. The illumination is supplied by a quasi-monochromatic, spatially incoherent source. Experimental results demonstrate the performance of this system for several cases.     

时空非相干光孤子的传播和相干特性

研究了时空非相干椭圆形高斯光束在饱和对数型非线性介质中的自陷行为,得到了孤子的形成条件并分析了其相干特性,讨论了光束自陷的变化形式,发现光束的初态和材料非线性对其有决定性的影响, 并进一步获得了光束半径和光束相干半径的解析表达式,发现光束的相干特性不但会随传播距离产生周期性的变化,且随组份频率的增大而减弱.     

Ballistic effects and intersubband excitations in multiple quantum well structures

We have studied the transport properties of electrons in asymmetric quantum well structures upon far-infrared optical excitation of carriers from the lowest subband into the continuum. Here the photocurrent consists of a coherent component originating from ballistic transport upon excitation, and of an incoherent part associated with asymmetric diffusion and relaxation processes, which occur after the coherence has been lost. The signature of the coherent contribution is provided by a sign reversal of the photocurrent upon changing the excitation energy. This sign reversal arises from the energy-dependent interference between continuum states, which have a twofold degeneracy characterized by positive and negative momenta. The interference effect also allows us to estimate the coherent mean free path ( nm at 77 K). In specifically designed device structures, we use both the coherent and incoherent components in order to achieve a pronounced photovoltaic infrared response for detector applications.     

Entangled-photon imaging of a pure phase object

We demonstrate experimentally and theoretically that a coherent image of a pure phase object [implemented by a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) micromirror array] may be obtained by use of a spatially incoherent illumination beam. This is accomplished by employing a two-beam source of entangled photons generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. One of the beams probes the phase object while the other is scanned. Though each of the beams is, in and of itself, spatially incoherent, the pair of beams exhibits higher-order interbeam coherence.     

强非局域非线性介质中的非相干孤子研究

本文从一维强非局域非线性模型出发,推导出非相干光满足的非线性薛定谔方程.按照相干密度描述方法,写出非相干光的描述方式,求出了非相干光孤子的形成条件和孤子形式,还得到了相干光和非相干光在强非局域非线性介质中形成孤子的临界功率,结果说明非相干光形成孤子时,需要更高的能量.当非相干光孤子的条件不满足时,非相干光束以呈现振荡行为.空间振荡周期仅与介质、入射的非相干光的光功率有关,而与光源的非相干角功率谱宽度及具体组分无关.同时,我们还数值模拟了这种非相干光束的振荡行为和单一组分、一对组分的非相干强度演化过程.     

Interpretation of the recipe for synthesizing genuine cross-spectral density matrices

A physical interpretation of the recipe for synthesizing genuine 2 × 2 cross-spectral density matrices that characterize stochastic electromagnetic sources and beams is described. In this interpretation, the synthesized field is regarded as an incoherent superposition of spatially coherent fields originating from a partially polarized, spatially incoherent virtual source. The coherence and the polarization properties of the synthesized field are also examined in view of this interpretation. As a result, we found that the spectral degree of coherence and that of polarization of the synthesized field are generally different from those of the virtual source by the effect of the superposition. We also found, however, that there are some situations in which the spectral degree of polarization of the synthesized field remains unchanged even though the superposition takes place.     

Effects of Spatial Coherence and Dispersive Diffraction on a Change in Optical Spectrum

This paper describes a change in optical spectrum on propagation in free space for a particular class of spatially partially coherent fields emanating from a polychromatic secondary source. A rectangular opening aperture in an opaque screen, illuminated with an extended incoherent polychromatic primary source, works as the secondary source. The spectral change is explored in detail theoretically and experimentally in association with spatial coherence in the secondary source as well as dispersive diffraction by the secondary source. The peak shift of the spectrum is associated with the coherence area for characterizing the secondary source. The peak shift becomes maximum if the secondary source is spatially coherent, but no shift occurs if the secondary source is spatially incoherent.     

Propagation of partial coherence along optical fibres

The degree of coherence of the field along an optical fibre excited by a spatially coherent source is discussed. The degree of coherence undergoes a transitions as the source becomes less coherent; initially it is determined by the source coherence properties but for highly incoherent source it is controlled by fibre acceptance parameters.     

Spatially incoherent illumination as a mechanism for cross-talk suppression in wide-field optical coherence tomography

Comparison of two illumination modes for wide-field optical coherence tomography has revealed that spatially coherent illumination generates coherent cross talk, causing significant image degradation, and that spatially incoherent illumination, with an adequate interferometer design, provides an efficient mechanism for suppression of coherent cross talk. This is shown by comparison of a pulsed laser with a thermal light source for a U.S. Air Force resolution target covered with a scattering solution made from microbeads as well as for an ex vivo tooth.     

Spatial coherence properties of light from optical fibres

The mutual intensity of the optical field in the Fraunhofer diffraction region produced from the end of an optical fibre under illumination of a coherent beam, is theoretically analysed by using an optical fibre-end source model. In this source model, the optical field at the end of the fibre is expressed as an aggregation of independent plane waves with random directions and phases, because the guided modes propagating through the fibre may be regarded as a stochastic process. It is found that the optical field in the diffraction region from the multimode optical fibre is not homogeneous butquasi homogeneous in a statistical sense. The spatial coherence properties in the field are discussed in connection with theV number (the normalized frequency) of the fibre and in comparison with those in the field produced from an incoherent source obeying the van Cittert-Zernike theorem.     

两个光纤激光器的互相注入锁定

光纤激光器的相干合成技术是实现高功率、高亮度光纤激光系统的重要技术途径.利用分束器分光使两个光纤激光器的能量互相注入，从而使两个光纤激光器达到锁相锁模实现相干输出. 实验研究表明：在独立运行的情况下，两个光纤激光器的远场光斑只是两个激光器光强的简单叠加；在互相注入锁定的情况下，两个光纤激光器的远场光斑是具有高对比度的干涉条纹，并得到两个激光器的输出模式总为异相模.这与理论分析的结果相一致. 关键词： 光纤激光器 相干合成 锁相     

Experimental study of coherence vortices: local properties of phase singularities in a spatial coherence function

By controlling the irradiance of an extended quasimonochromatic, spatially incoherent source, an optical field is generated that exhibits spatial coherence with phase singularities, called coherence vortices. A simple optical geometry for direct visualization of coherence vortices is proposed, and the local properties and the spatial evolution of coherence vortex are experimentally investigated. To our knowledge, this is the first direct and quantitative experimental measurement of a generic coherence vortex.     

Measurement of hard X-ray coherence in the presence of a rotating random-phase-screen diffuser

A suitably large coherence area is important in coherent X-ray optics, when using techniques such as interferometry or phase contrast imaging (PCI). The work done by Suzuki using a prism interferometer to measure X-ray coherence at 12.4 keV [1] is here extended to consider the use of a diffuser at the bio-medical imaging energy of 25 keV. In order to achieve a broader, more even X-ray field and eliminate speckle, a spinning piece of paper may be used as a rotating random-phase screen to diffuse the hard X-ray beam, but this will concomitantly decrease the magnitude of the complex degree of second-order coherence. We also study the effect of source size and source-to-sample distance on coherence, where imaging area and required flux must be considered. Coherence measurements at the 20XU beamline at the SPring-8 synchrotron are compared to results from wave-optical computer modelling. These show that while the diffuser will decrease the magnitude of the complex degree of coherence, further free-space propagation will lessen this effect. In the design of an experiment, the collimating slit size and use of a diffuser must therefore be balanced with distance from the source, in order to maximise coherence while maintaining the desired field of view and exposure time.     

Spatial coherence and coherent interactions of broadband dispersed laser beams

Analytical expressions are obtained that describe the changes in the degree of coherence and in the thickness of the coherence layers occurring upon propagation of a dispersed broadband laser beam. It is found that the greater the tilting of the coherence layers with respect to the phase fronts, the more rapidly the spatial coherence is violated with increasing distance. A comparison with the case of an undispersed beam is performed. It is shown that, as the beam propagates, the decrease in the degree of coherence is accompanied by the appearance of spatial fluctuations of this parameter. The degree of mutual coherence of intersecting dispersed beams with parallel correlated coherence layers, which determines the efficiency of their coherent interaction, is investigated. The existence of spatial fluctuations of the degree of mutual coherence is established.     

Effect of acoustooptic Bragg diffraction on the degree of spatial coherence of a light beam

The effect of acoustooptic (AO) Bragg diffraction on the degree of spatial coherence of an optical beam formed as the result of transmission of a Gaussian beam through a diffuser is studied. Experiments performed on the basis of the AO Bragg interaction in a single crystal of TeO₂ confirmed that the optical beam areas characterized by a higher spatial coherence diffract with a considerably higher efficiency than the low-coherence areas. In addition, the character of the speckle-structure distribution of the optical field of the diffracted beam is practically isotropic.     

Spatial coherence of an optical turbulent beam in a biased photorefractive crystal due to the spatiotemporal modulation instability

We report the experimental observation of the dynamic pattern formation of a broad coherent light beam in a biased photorefractive crystal due to the spatiotemporal modulation instability. When the nonlinearity exceeds a specific threshold, the coherent light beam not only breaks up into light spots due to the modulation instability but also fast fluctuates both spatially and temporally, forming an optical turbulent beam, which behaves as a quasi-homogeneous speckled beam or a partially incoherent beam. We investigate the spatial coherence property of an optical turbulent beam from the visibility of the averaged double-slit interference fringe. We also numerically demonstrate the visibility variation of the instantaneous interference fringe of an optical turbulent beam.     

Elliptic incoherent solitons in strongly nonlocal media with anisotropic Kerr nonlinearity

The propagation of elliptic incoherent beam in strongly nonlocal media with noninstantaneous anisotropic Kerr nonlinearity is systematically investigated. Using the mutual coherence function approach, we obtain the existence curve of such solitons and an interesting outcome: correlation characteristics of the elliptic incoherent solitons can be anisotropic as well as isotropic. When the existence conditions of solitons are not satisfied, the elliptic incoherent beam will undergo periodic oscillation. Nonstationary evolution behaviors of the elliptic beam are shown in detail by numerical calculation. It is also obtained that the oscillation periods of the beam in x and y direction are different and the elliptic beam will become circular at some propagation distance under special conditions.     

湍流大气传输高斯谢尔光束的到达角起伏

研究了在弱大气湍流起伏环境下以窄带宽高斯谢尔光束为激光光源的大气通信问题,分析了大气湍流强度和光源空间相干度对通信光束到达角起伏的影响.采用窄带宽光场的交叉谱密度函数代替光场互相干函数的近似方法和采用包含大气湍流内外尺度的简化折射率谱密度函数,得出了湍流大气中传输高斯谢尔光束的波结构函数(WSF) 和到达角起伏方差解析近似关系.分析表明,光源的空间相干度和传输光束的湍流扩展是影响高斯谢尔光束的相位起伏结构函数和传输光束到达角起伏的重要因素.     

In-plane vibration characterization of microelectromechanical systems using acousto-optic modulated partially incoherent stroboscopic imaging

A technique using acousto-optic modulated partially incoherent stroboscopic imaging for measurement of in-plane motion of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is presented. Vibration measurement is allowed by using flashes of the partially incoherent light source to freeze the positions of the microstructure at 12 equally spaced phases of the vibration period. The first-order diffracted beam taken out by an acousto-optic modulator (AOM) from the light beam of a laser is made partially incoherent by a rotating diffuser and then serves as the stroboscopic light source. Both the MEMS excitation signal and the flash control signal are provided by a dual-channel function generator. The main advantage of this measurement method is the absence of a stroboscopic generator and a high speed digital camera. Microscale prototypes are fabricated and tested. Quantitative estimates of the harmonic responses of the prototypes are obtained from the recorded images. The results agree with those obtained with a commercial MEMS motion analyzer^TM with relative errors less than 2%.