Electromagnetic Degree Of Coherence Research Articles

Partial spatial coherence and partial polarization in random evanescent fields on lossless interfaces

We consider partial spatial coherence and partial polarization of purely evanescent optical fields generated in total internal reflection at an interface of two dielectric (lossless) media. Making use of the electromagnetic degree of coherence, we show that, in such fields, the coherence length can be notably shorter than the light's vacuum wavelength, especially at a high-index-contrast interface. Physical explanation for this behavior, analogous to the generation of incoherent light in a multimode laser, is provided. We also analyze the degree of polarization by using a recent three-dimensional formulation and show that the field may be partially polarized at a subwavelength distance from the surface even though it is fully polarized farther away. The degree of polarization can assume values unattainable by beamlike fields, indicating that electromagnetic evanescent waves generally are genuine three-dimensional fields. The results can find applications in near-field optics and nanophotonics.

Coherence and polarization properties of a three-dimensional, primary, quasi-homogeneous, and isotropic source and its far field

We study the spatial coherence properties of a three-dimensional, primary, quasi-homogeneous, and isotropic source and the far field that it generates. We assess the spectrum, degree of polarization, electromagnetic degree of coherence, and effective degree of coherence of the source and of the far field. We also demonstrate the formalism for a spherical Gaussian Schell-model current source. The polarization properties of light are fully accounted for in the analysis, and it is found that certain results pertaining to scalar coherence theory are reproduced also within the electromagnetic treatment.

Electromagnetic fields that remain totally polarized under propagation

It is remarked that, in general, a totally polarized field becomes partially polarized at the output of an optical system, even though the field propagates through non-polarizing devices. Two kinds of fields are shown in the present work, which maintain the totally-polarized character at the output of any (deterministic) non-polarizing first-order optical system. This property is satisfied by uniformly totally polarized beams and also by those fields whose electromagnetic degree of coherence [T. Setälä, J. Tervo, A.T. Friberg, Opt. Lett. 29 (2004) 328.] equals 1.

Contrasts of Stokes parameters in Young's interference experiment and electromagnetic degree of coherence

We analyze the modulation of the Stokes parameters in Young's two-pinhole interference experiment with a random electromagnetic beam. We demonstrate that the electromagnetic (spectral) degree of coherence put forward in Opt. Lett.29, 328 (2004) [or its space-time analog in Opt. Express 11, 1137 (2003)] is physically related to the contrasts of modulation in the four Stokes parameters. More explicitly, the electromagnetic degree of coherence is a measure of both the visibility of the intensity fringes and the modulation contrasts of the three polarization Stokes parameters. We also show that by using suitable wave plates the modulation in any Stokes parameter can be transformed into the form of intensity variation, and hence the electromagnetic degree of coherence can be obtained experimentally by four visibility measurements.

Coherence theory of the electromagnetic field

Up to now the degree of coherence of a wave field was only defined on the basis of a scalar wave theory. In the present paper a generalization is proposed applicable to any quasi-monochromatic stationary electromagnetic field. This « electromagnetic degree of coherence », which is a single scalar quantity, is introduced from the analysis of an interference experiment and it is shown to be related to the trace of the correlation tensor of the electric field introduced byE. Wolf in 1954.