Evaluation of the decay in temporal coherence of a laser beam propagating in a slowly fluctuating medium

A simple method is described for evaluating the change in temporal coherence which occurs when a monochromatic light wave traverses a medium the properties of which fluctuate randomly. The degree of second-order coherence is formulated in terms of the amplitude and phase autocorrelation functions which are derived from the photocurrent produced in a light beating experiment. This method makes it possible to evaluate even a small deterioration in temporal coherence which is closely related to the frequency fluctuations in the light wave. The change in temporal coherence of a laser beam propagating through a slowly fluctuating gaseous path has been measured.     

Relationship between temporal coherence and laser parameters in a two-longitudinal-mode HeNe laser

The relationship between the temporal coherenceg ⁽¹⁾ () and laser parameters - the output relative intensity (I ₁/I ₂) and the frequency width _h of the longitudinal mode in a two-longitudinal-mode HeNe laser - is studied experimentally. The experimental results show that both the relative output intensity and the frequency width of the longitudinal mode have a great influence on the temporal coherenceg ⁽¹⁾ (). Moreover, the spectral line-shape function of each longitudinal mode in a two-longitudinal mode HeNe laser is a Lorentzian function, with a frequency width of about 18.2 MHz. A model of the power spectrum with Gaussian amplitude distribution and equal frequency width of the longitudinal mode in a multi-longitudinal-mode gas laser is employed in the theoretical analysis. Good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained.     

Spatial coherence of random laser emission

We experimentally studied the spatial coherence of random laser emission from dye solutions containing nanoparticles. The spatial coherence, measured in a double slit experiment, varied significantly with the density of scatterers and the size and shape of the excitation volume. A qualitative explanation is provided, illustrating the dramatic difference from the spatial coherence of a conventional laser. This work demonstrates that random lasers can be controlled to provide intense, spatially incoherent emission for applications in which spatial cross talk or speckle limit performance.     

Near-threshold reflectivity fluctuations in the independent-convective-hot-spot-model limit of a spatially smoothed laser beam

In the framework of the independent-hot-spot model, it is shown that the reflectivity resulting from scattering instabilities when a spatially smoothed laser beam interacts with a plasma exhibits large statistical fluctuations near threshold. The importance of the fluctuations is discussed in terms of a confidence interval for the reflectivity, which is more relevant to experimental measurements than the average reflectivity. An analytical model for the fluctuating reflectivity is developed and shown to be in good agreement with numerical simulations. The influence of the transverse size of the interaction region is studied.     

Spatial information transmission using axial temporal coherence coding

We present an approach that can be used for transmission of information through space-limited systems or for superresolution. The spatial information is coded with different axial temporal coherence by interfering every spatial region in the input with the same region, but with a certain known delay in the longitudinal axis. Every spatial region has different delay. After mixing all of the spatial information, it is transmitted through the space-limited system. At the detection the information is passed through a similar interference setup containing certain axial delay. By temporally scanning along the longitudinal axis, each time a different spatial region that was coded with the corresponding axial delay is reconstructed. To allow coding of different spatial regions with different and small axial delays, we use a thermal light source that has very short coherence length. We include experimental validation of the presented approach.     

Monte carlo simulation of a pulsed laser beam diffusing through fog: Spatial and temporal structure of the echoes

Summary Results of numerical experiments concerning the propagation and scattering of an optical beam through fog are reported. The experments, which utilize a Monte Carlo simulation, are aimed at retrieving information on the characteristics of fogs and clouds and in particular on the absorption parameters, which are of primary importance in climate studies.

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Riassunto Si riportano risultati di esperimenti numerici sulla propagazione e diffusione di un fascio ottico in nebbia. Obiettivo degli esperimenti, che utilizzano una simulazione di tipo Montecarlo, è di ottenere informazioni sulle caratteristiche di nebbie e di nubi, ed in particolare sui parametri di assorbimento che sono di primaria importanza negli studi sul clima.

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Резюме Приводятся результаты численных экспериментов, касающихся распространения и рассеяния оптического пучка через туман. Эксперименты, которые используют моделирование по методу Монте-Карло, имеют цель—заново получить информацию о характеристиках туманов и облаков и, в частности, информацию о параметрах поглощения, которые являются важными при климатических исследованиях.

     

Spatial coherence properties of azimuthally polarized laser modes

Understanding of coherence properties of optical fields is of basic importance both in classical optics and in quantum physics. Coherence properties of electromagnetic laser modes are only now beginning to be explored and have not yet been tested experimentally, except in the simplest cases. In this paper, we first study theoretically the coherence properties of azimuthally polarized laser modes and we clarify the distinction between coherence and correlations in stochastic electromagnetic fields, a distinction which has up to now not been fully understood and has, in fact, been a subject of controversy. Our analysis clearly illustrates the distinction between these two concepts. After elucidating theoretically the coherence properties of radially polarized laser modes, we describe an experimental study of their properties, made by the use of a recently introduced reversed-wavefront Young’s interferometer. A good agreement between theory and experiment has been found.     

Spatial and temporal electron and ion density variations within the focal region of an intense laser beam in a tenuous plasma

The recent availability of focussed laser beams with flux densities well in excess of 10¹⁵ watts/cm² at 1.06 μm has led to experimental investigations of direct interaction between intense electromagnetic fields and charged particles. In this paper the relevant hydrodynamic two-fluid mode equations for a singly ionized tenuous plasma eveloped by an intense spatially varying electromagnetic field at the focus of a pulsed laser beam is solved by computer simulations for a cylindrically symmetric geometry. Radial, axial and temporal variations of electron and ion densities are given for different laser intensities and particle number densities. Fluctuations in electron density are found due to the bulk oscillation of electrons relative to what is essentially a static array of massive ions. The possibility of generating intense electromagnetic fields devoid of charged particles is discussed.     

Investigation of the spatial coherence of a laser beam by a laser-induced grating method

The influence of ion implantation on the magnetization of a model bubble system (La, Ga: YIG) is studied by means of Conversion Electron Mössbauer Spectroscopy (CEMS). It is found that the average magnetization decreases considerably with increasing depth, but after reaching a minimum returns to the bulk value. This observation is in accord with recent FMR and x-ray diffraction experiments.     

Effects of a modified spectral model on the spatial coherence of a laser beam

The influence of a modified (bump) spectrum of refractive index fluctuations on the spatial coherence of an optical wave is studied here and compared with that based on a von Karman spectrum. Analytical expressions are derived for the mutual coherence function (MCF) and wave structure function (WSF) of a lowest-order Gaussian beam wave from which the beam spot size and degree of coherence are deduced. The qualitative behaviour of beam spreading and coherence length is basically the same for both spectral models. Also, when the radius of the Fresnel zone and initial beam radius are of comparable size, the presence of a spectral bump appears to have minimal effect on spatial coherence for all beams. However, the choice of spectral model is important for certain ranges of parameters. In particular, the implied spatial coherence length for a collimated beam based on the modified spectrum is significantly smaller than that based on the von Karman spectrum whenever the Fresnel zone is either much larger or much smaller than the initial beam radius, whereas for a focused beam the predicted coherence length based on the modified spectrum is slightly larger when the Fresnel zone size is much smaller than the initial beam radius.     

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.     

Spatial and temporal coherence effects in interference microscopy and full‐field optical coherence tomography

Low‐coherence optical microscopy or optical coherence microscopy uses light with short coherence length. The well‐known case is: “white‐light interferometry”, which became recently more known as: “optical coherence tomography”. However, when lenses and microscope objectives are used to create interferometric images, in what is known classically as “interference microscopy” or today as “full‐field optical coherence tomography” the spatial coherence starts to play a critical role. In this article the coherence effects in low‐coherence optical microscopy are reviewed. As this technology is becoming increasingly publicized due to its importance in three‐dimensional imaging, particularly of scattering biological media and optical metrology, the understanding of the fundamental physics behind it is essential. The interplay between longitudinal spatial coherence and temporal coherence and the effects associated with them are discussed in detail particularly when high numerical apertures are used. An important conclusion of this study is that a high‐contrast, high‐resolution system for imaging of multilayered samples is the one that uses narrowband illumination and high‐NA objectives with an index‐matching fluid. Such a system, when combined with frequency‐domain operation, can reveal nearly real‐time three‐dimensional images, and is thus competitive with confocal microscopy.     

Spatial patterns induced in a laser beam by thermal nonlinearities

Stable spatial laser patterns were observed in a high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavity containing up to 2 atm of CO(2) and O(2). The gases displayed the same sequence of patterns that obey a scaling law of the form P(beta)p(2), where P is the power stored in the cavity, p is the pressure of the gas, and beta is a material-dependent parameter.     

Demonstration of temporal coherence,spatial coherence,and threshold effects in the molecular xenon laser

Stimulated emission has been observed at 1722 ± 1 Å in high-pressure xenon gas originating from the bound-free continuum of the Xe¹₂ molecule. This emission exhibits strong line narrowing, spatial coherence corresponding to a few times the diffraction limit, a sharp oscillation threshold, and an output time dependence radically different from the spontaneous emission observed without an optical cavity or below threshold. The confluence of all these observations is an explicit and unequivocal demonstration of a coherent stimulated emission process. Specific data detailing the pressure dependence of the stimulated output and results with rare-gas mixtures are given.     

Measurement of spatial coherence of a copper vapour laser beam using a reversal shear interferometer

We measured the spatial coherernce of a copper vapour laser (CVL) beam with an unstable resonator by the reversal shear interferometer. By this method, we can evaluate the spatial coherence function from a single-shot measurement. The spatial coherence width was 5 mm when an unstable resonator with a magnification factor of 60 was used. Moreover we verified the result by the theoretical calculation on the basis of the passive resonator model.     

The temporal development of the intensity distribution in a focussed laser beam

This paper extends the steady-state calculation of the intensity distribution near the focus of a laser beam, to the case when the laser intensity is changing rapidly, over a time of order 1 picosecond. An efficient procedure for computation is outlined, allowing for the primary spherical aberration of the focussing lens and arbitrary dependence of the incident amplitude on position and time, and results are given for two trial calculations.