Twist phase-induced changes of the statistical properties of a stochastic electromagnetic beam propagating in a uniaxial crystal.

Abstract

With the help of a tensor method, an analytical formula is derived for the cross-spectral density matrix of a twisted electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model (EGSM) beam (i.e., EGSM beam with twist phase) propagating in a uniaxial crystal orthogonal to the optical axis. The twist phase-induced changes of the statistical properties, such as the spectral density, the degree of polarization and the degree of coherence, of an EGSM beam propagating in a uniaxial crystal are illustrated numerically. It is found that the distributions of the spectral density, the degree of polarization and the degree of coherence of a twisted EGSM beam in a uniaxial crystal all exhibit non-circular symmetries, which are quite different from those of a twisted EGSM beam in isotropic medium or in free space. One may use uniaxial crystal to determine whether an EGSM beam carries twist phase or not.