Generation of partially coherent beams with controllable time-dependent coherence

Abstract

Abstract. A straight effective method to produce partially coherent beams with controllable time-dependent coherence is demonstrated. We theoretically deduce that a time-dependent partially coherent beam can be generated by imposing dynamic random phase on a coherent laser beam. The degree of coherence of the beam is determined by an amplitude control parameter of the dynamic random phase. We experimentally corroborate that after a completely coherent laser beam reflected from a spatial light modulator, loaded with a particular dynamic random phase, this beam is transformed into a partially coherent beam with time-dependent coherence. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.