Physics of Lasers and Modern Optics Laboratory Manual

EXPERIMENT 13: Coherence

DESCRIPTION
PURPOSE
Learn the principles of coherence: How do lasers differ from light bulbs?

INTRODUCTION
The description and measurement of Coherence with electromagnetic waves generally as-
sumes that the waves are nearly monochromatic, but not completely synchronized in phase at all
times. Purely Coherent light has constant phase while completely incoherent light has randomly
varying phase. Real light sources fall somewhere in between. Lasers tend to be highly coherent
and incandescent sources tend to be highly incoherent, though, as we shall see, the degree of co-
herence one measures depends not only on the nature of the source, but also on the construction
of the apparatus.
Before reading the summary below, read the sections on coherence light in Introduction to
Optical Engineering, by Yu and Yang (Y&Y), pp. 222-239. There are more advanced treatments
in Hecht Ch. 12, Saleh and Teich Ch. 10, Born and Wolf Ch. X.
Now that you have finished reading Y&Y (did you?--really?) Consider following summary
(notation and equation numbers as in Y&Y).
Superposition
Consider the superposition at some fixed point in space of two harmonic waves u1 and u2
with the same basic angular frequency ω, but time-varying phase φ(t).
u = u1 (t) + u2 (t) = u01 cos("t # $1 ( t )) + u02 cos("t # $ 2 ( t )) , (13-1)

where the time-varying phase difference δ(t) = φ2(t) – φ1(t) tends to smear out the interference
pattern. The total intensity at the fixed point is then averaged over the period of measurement.
! 2
I = u1 + u2 = I1 + I2 + 2 I1I2 cos(" ( t )) , (13-2)

where I1,2 = <|u1,2|2>. If δ(t) is small or constant over the period of measurement, the third term in
Eq. 13-2 is constant and there is good interference. If δ(t) is varies by a large amount over the
period
! of measurement, the third term in Eq. 13-2 averages to a reduced value or even zero and
there is poor or no interference.
Degree of Coherence
The Degree of Coherence γ12(τ) is related to the phase fluctuations of a correlation function
between two waves combined at a relative time delay τ.
2
I = u1 + u2 = I1 + I2 + 2 I1I2 Re[" 12 (# )] , (13-3)

! 13
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Physics of Lasers and Modern Optics Laboratory Manual

u1 ( t + # ) u2 ( t )
" 12 (# ) = . (13-4)
I1I2
A practical measurement of the Degree of Coherence amounts to creating an interference
pattern between two waves, or of a wave with itself, and measuring the visibility defined as
!
I %I
" = # 12 ($ ) = max min , (13-5)
Imax + Imin
where Imax and Imin are, respectively, the maximum and minumum intensity of interference as the
phase difference between the two waves is varied over one wavelength.
!
The delay τ can be varied using an interferometer. See Example 8.7 for a practical illustration
of visibility measurement.
Spatial Coherence
We normally consider an extended source like a discharge lamp as incoherent because the
emissions from the many atoms that make up the source are not synchronized like they are in a
laser source. What causes the overall incoherence is that the waves from the individual atoms all
have randomly different phases. If we try to do an interference experiment between two coherent
(but monochromatic) sources like two Hg lamps, the relative phases on a viewing screen are
completely random and the average over phase complete removes the interference term in Eq.
8.31; the superposition of two mutually incoherent sources is just the sum of their independent
intensities.
But an ‘incoherent’ source will exhibit properties of coherence if we compare different points
1 and 2 on the wave front. This is because the emission from each atom spreads out like a spheri-
cal wave with well defined phase and even though the relative phases of the waves at points 1
and 2 are random the relative phase differences depend only on geometry and become quite
small far from the source. It is therefore possible to achieve perfect coherence (ν = 1) with an
‘incoherent’ source! The interference on the screen in a Young’s two-slit experiment (See Y&Y
Fig. 8.17) with an small extended incoherent source consists of the overlap of the individual in-
terference patterns from the emitting atoms. The visibility (measured spatially across the screen)
in this case is
% #Sd (
" = sinc' *, (13-6)
& L$ )
where the S is the source size, d the slit separation, and L the distance from source to the slits.
Temporal Coherence
!
The self-coherence of wave, as from a laser or localized source, can be represented by the
Coherence length Δr, the Coherence Time Δt, or the Coherence Bandwidth Δω = 2π/Δt, which
are related by the following equation: (We assume that the bandwidth Δω is small compared to
the average angular frequency ω.)
"r = c"t = 2#c "$ . (13-7)

Experiment 13 © 2008 Stephen Ducharme, University of Nebraska Page 13–2

!
Physics of Lasers and Modern Optics Laboratory Manual

In a typical self-coherence experiment, such as using a single source with a Michelson interfer-
ometer, the visibility will be
% #l (
" = sinc' * , (13-8)
& $r )
Where l is the path difference between the two arms of the interferometer.
We can measure self-coherence by interfering a wave with itself using a Michelson Interfer-
! (Y&F Fig. 8.18). The wave is split into two beams sent along two different paths and
ometer
then recombined to form interference fringes. The path difference l amounts to a time delay τ =
c/l between the waves. The dependence of the fringe visibility ν on the path difference l allows
calculation of the coherence length Δr. The coherence time Δt follows from Eq. 13-7.

ADDITIONAL READING
M. Born and E. Wolf, Principles of Optics (Pergamon, Oxford, 1980).
Optics, 4th ed., by Eugene Hecht (Addison-Wesley, Reading MA, 2002).
B. A. Saleh and M. C. Teich, Fundamentals of Photonics (Wiley, New York 1991).
F. T. S. Wu and X. Yang, Introduction to Optical Engineering (Cambridge, 1997).

Experiment 13 © 2008 Stephen Ducharme, University of Nebraska Page 13–3

Physics of Lasers and Modern Optics Laboratory Manual

PROCEDURE
ACTIVITY 1: TEMPORAL COHERENCE OF A LASER
Equipment: Michelson Interferometer, He-Ne laser, Semiconductor Laser
Similar to experiments described in Y&Y sections 8.6.2 and 8.7 to measure the coherence
length/time for several sources. Relevant Equations 13-7&8.
The laser coherence length will be measured with a long-baseline Michelson Interferometer
(Y&Y Fig. 8.18). You will measure the fringe visibility (Eq. 8.27) as a function of path differ-
ence l from ~0 to 2 m. First, make a careful sketch of the apparatus, noting the type and location
of all elements. Then align the interferometer with l ≈ 0 and the beams exiting parallel and ex-
panded on the viewing screen with uniform intensity that can be controlled with the variable re-
tarder. Then aim the combined beam at the detector through the small iris. Block the reference
(shortest) beam and measure the signal beam power. Block the signal beam and adjust the refer-
ence beam power to the same value. Be sure to minimize and account for the background signal
from the detector. With the beam powers balanced, vary the relative phase using the variable re-
tarder and determine the max and min intensities. Repeat for a range of path differences l (0 m to
2 m for the He-Ne laser and 0 to 20 cm for the semiconductor laser). Plot the visibility vs. path
difference l.
Questions:
1) Why must the individual beam intensities be equal at the detector?
2) Calculate the coherence length defined as the path difference at which the visibility drops
to 50%.
3) Calculate the coherence time and bandwidth.

ACTIVITY 2: TEMPORAL COHERENCE OF EMISSION SOURCES

Equipment: Michelson interferometer, Hg lamp with filter, Na lamp, LED, incandescent lamp
Place the Gaertner Michelson interferometer 35 cm from the Hg lamp and green filter with
the lens facing you. Half the light passes straight to mirror 2, the movable mirror, and half is re-
flected to mirror 1, the tiltable mirror. Adjust the position of mirror 2 to the 0 position as indi-
cated on the sliding scale. View the lamp light from the output port of the interferometer and
adjust the position of mirror 2 until clear fringes are visible. Tilt mirror 1 until 4-5 vertical
fringes appear across the field of view. Adjust the path length until the fringes have maximum
contrast and record the position of mirror 2—this is the reference position. Now move mirror 2
until the fringes are no longer visible, so that the intensity is uniform independent of mirror 1 tilt
or mirror 2 position. Define the coherence length as the path difference l where the visibility first
drops to zero.
Now do the same thing with the Na lamp, but without a filter. Record again the reference po-
sition of mirror 2 (at highest contrast). Now move mirror 2 until you obtain minimum contrast
and record this position and calculate its distance l1 from the reference position. Repeat to meas-

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Physics of Lasers and Modern Optics Laboratory Manual

ure the position of minimum contrast at 5 successive locations. Plots the distances ln vs. n and
calculate the slope. The distance between these two positions is related to the separation Δλ of
the Na D lines by the relation 2ΔL = λ2/Δλ where λ is the wavelength you measured by counting
fringes and ΔL is the distance mirror 2 moves in going from highest contrast to lowest contrast.
Calculate Δλ.
Now replace the Hg lamp and return the Michelson to its reference position. Then place the
incandescent (‘white light’) source at the interferometer input and locate its fringes. Note, this an
extremely delicate task because the coherence length is so short. You can make it easier by using
the green filter to narrow the bandwidth. Measure the coherence length of the incandescent
source with the green filter and without any filter.
If time permits, measure the coherence length of one of an LED source.
Questions:
1) Calculate the coherence time and bandwidth for all sources.
2) Explain in 2-3 clear sentences how an ‘incoherent’ source like an incandescent lamp
can exhibit interference fringes, especially as it emits such a large range (bandwidth)
of frequencies.
ACTIVITY 3: SPATIAL COHERENCE
Equipment: TBD
To Be Determined…

Experiment 13 © 2008 Stephen Ducharme, University of Nebraska Page 13–5

From: Intro. to Optical Engineering, by F.T.S. Yu and X. Yang, pp 222-239.
© 1997 Cambridge U. Press. For use by UNL PHYS 343 students only.