Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Correlations In Intensity Fluctuations From A Quasi-Thermal Light Source: An Application Of Hanbury Brown & Twiss, Christopher Watanabe

Physics

In this experiment, the observation by Hanbury Brown and Twiss that light intensity fluctuations from an extended broadband source are spatially correlated is demonstrated with a quasi-thermal light source. Laser light is used to illuminate a ground glass screen and generate a diffraction pattern, also known as a speckle pattern. The speckle pattern is recorded using an electronic camera and analyzed. Calculated auto-correlations of the intensity fluctuations agree with theoretical results originating from speckle analysis.