A geometric description of the spatial coherence and Babinet'sp like principle for the fringe visibility

H. J. Rabal, N. L. Cap, E. Grumel, M. Trivi


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Base Information

Volume

V48 - N2 / 2015 International Year of Light

Reference

63-75

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.7149/OPA.48.2.63

Language

English / Inglés

Keywords

Optical coherence, spatial coherence, Van Cittert-Zernike Theorem, Babinet's principle.

Abstract

The concept of spatial coherence is usually hard to comprehend the first time that it is studied. We propose here a fully intuitive geometric description that does not contain mathematical difficulties, and permits one to understand how a Young's fringe stationary system is obtained with a source not spatially coherent. It is based in a very simple experiment that permits the detection of spatial coherence in a scene. Experimental results are shown. Using this approach, a Babinet-like principle for the visibility of the Young's fringes is proposed and experimentally demonstrated.

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