Wiener–Khintchin theorem for spatial coherence of optical wave field

Abstract

The application of the Wiener–Khintchin theorem for determining the functions of the transversal and longitudinal spatial coherence of the optical field, depending on the parameters of the angular and temporal frequency spectra of the field, is considered. Based on the Wiener–Khintchin theorem, the possibility to derive the van Cittert–Zernike theorem for transversal and longitudinal spatial coherence of the optical field of a spatially incoherent quasi-monochromatic light source is shown. An expression for the dependence of the longitudinal coherence length of the optical field on the width of the frequency and width of the angular spectra of the field is obtained. The results of the interference experiment confirming the dependence of the longitudinal coherence length on the parameters of angular and frequency spectra of the field are presented.