Open AccessSelf-reconstruction of partially coherent light beams scattered by opaque obstacles
Author(s) -
Fei Wang,
Yuntian Chen,
Xianlong Liu,
Yangjian Cai,
Sergey A. Ponomarenko
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.24.023735
Subject(s) - optics , opacity , obstacle , coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) , scattering , physics , beam (structure) , light beam , polarization (electrochemistry) , coherence time , coherence length , laser , chemistry , superconductivity , quantum mechanics , political science , law
Self-reconstruction refers to an ability of certain fully coherent optical beams to recover their spatial profiles after scattering by obstacles. In this communication, we extend the self-reconstruction concept to partially coherent beams. We show theoretically and verify experimentally that any partially coherent beam can self-reconstruct its intensity profile and state of polarization upon scattering from an opaque obstacle provided the beam coherence area is reduced well below the obstacle area. We stress that our self-reconstruction technique is independent of the obstacle shape and it is scalable to the case of multiple obstacles or even of inhomogeneous media as long as a characteristic obstacle area or a medium inhomogeneity scale is well in excess of the beam coherence area or length, respectively. We anticipate the technique to be instrumental in applications ranging from beam shaping to image transfer and trapped particle manipulation in turbid media.