Coherence and Interference

Coherence
Temporal coherence
Spatial coherence
Interference
Parallel polarizations
interfere; perpendicular
polarizations don't.
The Michelson Interferometer
Fringes in delay
Measure of Temporal Coherence
The Fourier Transform Spectrometer
The Misaligned Michelson Interferometer
Fringes in position
Measure of Spatial Coherence

Opals use interference

between tiny
structures to yield
bright colors.

The Temporal Coherence Time and

the Spatial Coherence Length
The temporal coherence time is the time the wave-fronts remain equally
spaced. That is, the field remains sinusoidal with one wavelength:
Temporal
Coherence
Time, c
The spatial coherence length is the distance over which the beam wavefronts remain flat:
Spatial
Coherence
Length

Since there are

two transverse
dimensions, we
can define a
coherence area.

Spatial
and
Temporal
Coherence
Beams can be
coherent or
only partially
coherent
(indeed, even
incoherent)
in both space
and time.

Spatial and
Temporal
Coherence:
Temporal
Coherence;
Spatial
Incoherence
Spatial
Coherence;
Temporal
Incoherence
Spatial and
Temporal
Incoherence

The coherence time is the reciprocal of

the bandwidth.
The coherence time is given by:

c 1/ v
where is the light bandwidth (the width of the spectrum).

Sunlight is temporally very incoherent because its bandwidth is

very large (the entire visible spectrum).
Lasers can have coherence times as long as about a second,
which is amazing; that's >1014 cycles!

The spatial coherence depends on the

emitter size and its distance away.
The van Cittert-Zernike Theorem states that the spatial
coherence area Ac is given by:

D 2 2
c
d2

where d is the diameter of the light source and D is the distance away.

Basically, wave-fronts smooth

out as they propagate away
from the source.

Starlight is spatially very coherent because stars are very far away.

Irradiance of a sum of two waves

Same polarizations

Same
colors

Different
colors

I I1 I 2

c Re E1 E2
% %
*

I I1 I 2

Different polarizations

I I1 I 2

I I1 I 2

Interference only occurs when the waves have the same color and
polarization.
We also discussed incoherence, and thats what this lecture is about!

The irradiance when combining a beam with

a delayed replica of itself has fringes.
Okay, the irradiance is given by:

I I1 c Re E1 E2
% %

I 2

Suppose the two beams are E0 exp(it) and E0 exp[it-)], that is,
a beam and itself delayed by some time :

I 2 I 0 c Re E0 exp[it ] E0* exp[ i (t )]

%
%
2
2 I 0 c Re E0 exp[i ]
%
2
2 I 0 c E0 cos[ ]
Fringes (in delay)
%
I
I 2 I 0 2 I 0 cos[ ]

Varying the delay on purpose

Simply moving a mirror can vary the delay of a beam by many
wavelengths.
Input
beam E(t)

Mirror

Translation stage

Output
beam E(t)

Moving a mirror backward by a distance L yields a delay of:

2 L /c

Do not forget the factor of 2!

Light must travel the extra distance
to the mirrorand back!

Since light travels 300 m per ps, 300 m of mirror displacement

yields a delay of 2 ps. Such delays can come about naturally, too.

We can also vary the delay using

a mirror pair or corner cube.
Mirror pairs involve two
reflections and displace
the return beam in space:
But out-of-plane tilt yields
a nonparallel return beam.

E(t)
Mirrors
E(t)

Input
beam
Output
beam

Translation stage

Corner cubes involve three reflections and also displace the return
beam in space. Even better, they always yield a parallel return beam:

[Edmund
Scientific]

Hollow corner cubes avoid propagation through glass.

The Michelson Interferometer

The Michelson Interferometer splits a
beam into two and then recombines Mirror
them at the same beam splitter.

Input
beam

L2
Beamsplitter

Suppose the input beam is a plane

wave:

Output
beam
L1
Mirror

Delay

I out I 1 I 2 c Re E0 exp i ( t kz 2kL1 ) E0* exp i ( t kz 2kL2 )

I I 2 I Re exp 2ik ( L2 L1 )
2 I 1 cos( k L)

where: L = 2(L2 L1)

Fringes (in delay):

since I I1 I 2 (c 0 / 2) E0

Bright fringe

Dark fringe

Iout

L = 2(L2 L1)

Input
beam

The Michelson
Interferometer

L2

Mirror

Output
beam

Beamsplitter

The most obvious application of

the Michelson Interferometer is
to measure the wavelength of
monochromatic light.

L1
Mirror

I out 2 I 1 cos(k L) 2 I 1 cos(2 L / )

Iout

L = 2(L2 L1)

Delay

Huge Michelson Interferometers

may someday detect gravity
waves.
Gravity waves (emitted by all massive objects) ever so slightly warp
space-time. Relativity predicts them, but theyve never been detected.
Supernovae and colliding black holes emit gravity waves that may be
detectable.
Gravity waves are quadrupole
waves, which stretch space in
one direction and shrink it in
Mirror
another. They should cause
one arm of a Michelson
interferometer to stretch and
the other to shrink.

L2
Beamsplitter

L1
Mirror

L1 and L2 = 4 km!

Unfortunately, the relative distance (L1-L2 ~ 10-16 cm) is less than the
width of a nucleus! So such measurements are very very difficult!

The LIGO project

CalTech LIGO

The building
containing an arm

A small fraction of
one arm of the
CalTech LIGO
interferometer

Hanford LIGO

The control center

The LIGO folks

think big
The longer the interferometer
arms, the better the
sensitivity.

So put one in space,

of course.

Interference is easy when the light wave is a

monochromatic plane wave. What if its not?
For perfect sine waves, the two beams are either in phase or
theyre not. What about a beam with a short coherence time????

The beams could be in phase some of the time and out of phase
at other times, varying rapidly.
Remember that most optical measurements take a long time, so
these variations will get averaged.

Adding a
nonmonochromatic
wave to a
delayed
replica of
itself

Delay = 0:

Constructive
interference for
all times
(coherent)
Bright fringe

Delay =
period
(<< c):

Destructive
interference for
all times
(coherent)
Dark fringe)

Delay > c:

Incoherent
addition No
fringes.

The Michelson Interferometer is a

Fourier Transform Spectrometer

L2

Suppose the input beam is not monochromatic

(but is perfectly spatially coherent):
Iout =

Beamsplitter

2I + c Re{E(t+2L1 /c) E*(t+2L2 /c)}

Now, Iout will vary rapidly in time, and most detectors will simply
integrate over a relatively long time, T :
T /2

L1
Mirror

Delay

T /2
out

(t )dt

T / 2

U 2 IT c Re

E (t 2L / c)E *(t 2L / c) dt
1

T / 2

Changing variables: t' = t + 2L1 /c and letting = 2(L2 - L1)/c and T

U 2 IT c Re

E (t ')E *(t ' dt '

The Field Autocorrelation!

Recall that the Fourier Transform of the Field Autocorrelation is the spectrum!!

Fourier Transform Spectrometer Interferogram

A Fourier Transform Spectrometer's detected light energy vs. delay
is called an interferogram.
Michelson interferometer
integrated irradiance

Spectrum

Integrated irradiance

2/

Intensity

1/

Delay

Frequency

The Michelson interferometer outputthe interferogramFourier

transforms to the spectrum.
The spectral phase plays no role! (The temporal phase does, however.)

Fourier Transform Spectrometer Data

Actual interferogram from a Fourier Transform Spectrometer

Interferogram

This interferogram
is very narrow, so
the spectrum
is very broad.

Fourier Transform Spectrometers are most commonly used in the

infrared where the fringes in delay are most easily generated. As
a result, they are often called FTIR's.

Fourier Transform Spectrometers

Maximum path difference: 1 m
Minimum resolution: 0.005 /cm
Spectral range: 2.2 to 18 m
Accuracy: 10-3 /cm to 10-4 /cm
Dynamic range: 19 bits (5 x 105)

A compact commercial
FT spectrometer from
Nicolet

Fourier-transform
spectrometers are now
available for wavelengths even in the UV!
Strangely, theyre still
called FTIRs.

Crossed Beams

r
k

r
kr k cos z k sin x
k k cos z k sin x

r
r xx yy zz

r r
kr r k cos z k sin x
r
k r k cos z k sin x

z
r
k

r r *
r r
I 2 I 0 c Re E0 exp[i ( t k r )]E0 exp[ i ( t k r )]

Cross term is proportional to:

Re E0 exp i (t kz cos kx sin E0* exp i (t kz cos kx sin

Re E0 exp 2ikx sin

2

E0 cos(2kx sin )
Fringe spacing: 2 /(2k sin )

Fringes (in position)

Iout(x)
x

Irradiance vs. position for crossed beams

Irradiance fringes occur where the beams overlap in space and time.

Big angle: small fringes.

Small angle: big fringes.
The fringe spacing, :

Large angle:

2 /(2k sin )
/(2sin )

As the angle decreases to

zero, the fringes become
larger and larger, until finally, at
= 0, the intensity pattern
becomes constant.

Small angle:

You can't see the spatial fringes unless

the beam angle is very small!
The fringe spacing is:

/(2sin )
= 0.1 mm is about the minimum fringe spacing you can see:

sin /(2 )
0.5 m / 200 m
1/ 400 rad 0.15o

Spatial fringes
and spatial
coherence
Suppose that a beam is temporally,
but not spatially, coherent.
Interference is incoherent (no
fringes) far off the axis, where
very different regions of the
wave interfere.
Interference is coherent (sharp
fringes) along the center line,
where same regions of the
wave interfere.

The Michelson
Interferometer
and Spatial Fringes

Input
beam

Mirror

Suppose we misalign the mirrors

so the beams cross at an angle
when they recombine at the beam
splitter. And we won't scan the delay.

Beamsplitter

Mirror

If the input beam is a plane wave, the cross term becomes:

Re E0 exp i( t kz cos kx sin E0* exp i( t kz cos kx sin

Re exp 2ikx sin
cos(2kx sin )
Crossing beams maps
delay onto position.

Fringes (in position)

Iout(x)
x

Michelson-Morley experiment
19th-century physicists thought that light was a vibration of a
medium, like sound. So they postulated the existence of a medium
whose vibrations were light: aether.
Michelson and Morley
realized that the earth could
not always be stationary
with respect to the aether.
And light would have a
different path length and
phase shift depending on
whether it propagated
parallel and anti-parallel or
perpendicular to the aether.

Parallel and
anti-parallel
propagation
Mirror
Beamsplitter

Perpendicular
propagation
Mirror

Supposed velocity of
earth through the aether

Michelson-Morley Experiment: Details

If light requires a medium, then its velocity depends on the velocity of
the medium. Velocity vectors add.
Parallel
velocities

r
r
vlight v aether

Anti-parallel
velocities

r
r
v aether vtotal

r
vtotal

r
vlight

vtotal vlight + v aether

vtotal vlight - v aether

Michelson-Morley Experiment: Details

In the other arm of the interferometer, the total velocity must be
perpendicular, so light must propagate at an angle.

Perpendicular
velocity to mirror

r
v aether

r
vlight

r
vtotal

Perpendicular
velocity after mirror

r
vlight

vtotal vlight 2 v aether 2

r
vtotal

r
v aether

Michelson-Morley Experiment: Details

Let c be the speed of light, and v be the velocity of the aether.

L
L
tP

cv cv
2L
1

c [1 v 2 / c 2 ]

r
v aether

Parallel and
anti-parallel
propagation

The delays for the two arms depend

differently on the velocity of the aether!
If v is the earths velocity around the
sun, 3 x 104 m/s, and L = 1 m, then:

tP t ~ 1017 s

Perpendicular
propagation

2L

c 2 v2
2L
1

c 1 v2 / c2

Michelson-Morley
Experiment: Results
The Michelson interferometer was
(and may still be) the most sensitive
measure of distance (or time) ever
invented and shouldve revealed a
fringe shift as it was rotated with
respect to the aether velocity.

Interference fringes showed no

change as the interferometer
was rotated.

Their apparatus

Michelson and Morley's results

from A. A. Michelson, Studies in
Optics

Fresnel's Biprism
A prism with an apex
angle of about 179
refracts the left half of the
beam to the right and the
right half of the beam to
the left.

Fringe pattern
observed by interfering
two beams created by
Fresnel's biprism