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

Abstract

The spatial coherence function |Γ(s)| of ruby laser pulses has been measured by self-diffraction at a laser-induced grating depending on the distances between two points in the beam profile. The spatial coherence of the laser beam was changed by operating the laser in the fundamental transverse mode, in a transverse multimode and by applying different pump powers. The degree of spatial coherence was experimentally found to be a Gaussian, as described by the Collett-Wolf model. The new method for measuring the spatial coherence function |Γ(s)| is described and possible improvements are discussed.