Determination of Stokes fluctuations and Stokes scintillations for an electromagnetic beam

Abstract

Abstract In this article, we report the experimental determination of Stokes fluctuations and Stokes scintillations for a generalized electromagnetic Gaussian–Schell model (EMGSM) beam. We have used an experimental scheme comprising three different interferometers which are aimed to tailor the correlation between orthogonal field components, synthesis of the generalized EMGSM beam, and observation of the spatial features of the light beam in the far zone. Stokes fluctuations matrix elements are measured for a partially polarized and unpolarized light beam. The weight value of the matrix elements is found to be dependent on the correlation strength parameter ( | B x y | ) of the source. Experimental results for Stokes scintillations are also determined which depend drastically on the modulus value of B xy . For asymmetrical coherence widths, variation in the Stokes scintillations is discerned across the beam diameter. The obtained results show a reasonable match with the theoretically expected values. The study reveals the source properties which can find applications in the areas of optical imaging, optical communication, etc.