title: Temporal coherence of laser fields analyzed by heterodyne interferometry.
abstract: For partially coherent fields, where the coherence time may be quite large, a new method is described to obtain the coherence function and other statistical properties. Coherence lengths of over 100 m were measured, and it was deduced that microphonic noise is the dominant source of incoherence in laser fields. It is also found experimentally that seemingly uncorrelated fields may have a strong phase relationship.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Halmos
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shamir