Coherence and interference
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Coherence
[edit | edit source]When waves interfere they tend to be coherent.
A light field is called coherent, when there is a fixed phase between EM fields in different location and time.
- spatial coherence - correlation between the electric fields at different locations
- temporal coherence - correlation between the electric fields at different times
Interference
[edit | edit source]Newton's rings experiment shows interference patterns, produced by two lenses and the air between. Wave reflected from the first lense interfere with reflected light from the second lense.
Interference can be:
- constructive - when waves overlap together, their crests combines
- destructive - when the waves cancel each other, not combines
Double slit experiment shows a product of interference between two diffracted beams of laser light which sent through two slits.
References
[edit | edit source]https://www.rp-photonics.com/coherence.html
https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/lightandcolor/interference.html