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Updated: Aug 16, 2026

The Generation of Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss Optical Beams for High-precision Interferometry
Published on: August 12, 2013
Interference of a pair of symmetric Collett-Wolf beams
Zu-Han Gu1, E R Méndez, M Ciftan
1Surface Optics Corporation, 11555 Rancho Bernardo Road, San Diego, California 92127-1441, USA.
Abstract:
We present a study of the interference of light produced by a pair of mutually correlated Gaussian Schell-model sources. The spatial distributions of the fields produced by these sources are symmetric with respect to a plane through their common center and differ by a phase factor exp(i phi). When phi = 0, the resulting radiation is a beam with an intensity distribution that displays a narrow bright line at its center. When the sources can be regarded as Collett-Wolf sources, the resulting bright line diverges much more slowly than the beam itself. When phi = pi the radiated beam has an intensity distribution with a narrow dark line at its center. The theoretical results are supported by experimental results obtained by use of a modified Michelson interferometer and suggest that the interference of a pair of correlated Collett-Wolf beams can be used to produce a pseudo-nondiffracting beam.
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