title: Synthesis of longitudinal coherence functions by spatial modulation of an extended light source: a new interpretation and experimental verifications.
abstract: Giving a new physical interpretation to the principle of longitudinal coherence control, we propose an improved method for synthesizing a spatial coherence function along the longitudinal axis of light propagation. By controlling the irradiance of an extended quasi-monochromatic spatially incoherent source with a spatial light modulator, we generated a special optical field that exhibits high coherence selectively for a specific pair of points at specified locations along the axis of beam propagation. This function of longitudinal coherence control provides new possibilities for dispersion-free measurements in optical tomography and profilometry. A quantitative experimental proof of principle is presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kozaki
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takeda