Emerging correlation optics.

This feature issue of Applied Optics contains a series of selected papers reflecting the state-of-the-art of correlation optics and showing synergetics between the theoretical background and experimental techniques.

Some current trends of correlation optics metrology of coherence and polarization.

New feasibilities for metrology of coherence and polarization of light fields provided by correlation optics approaches are considered. This paper shows these approaches are fruitful in measuring the field parameters that are critical for optical diagnostics using the data on the degree of coherence and the state and the degree of polarization of partially coherent and inhomogeneously polarized fields.

Singular-optical coloring of regularly scattered white light.

When the surface roughness is comparable with the wavelength of the probing radiation, the scattered field contains both the regular (forward-scattered) component of coherent nature and the diffusely scattered part. Coloring of the regular component of white light scattered by a colorless dielectric slab with a rough surface is considered as a peculiar effect of singular optics with zero (infinitely extended) interference fringes. To explain the observed alternation of colors with respect to the increasing depth of the surface roughness, we apply a model of transition layers associated with the surface roughness.

Partially coherent vortex beams with a separable phase.

We propose and experimentally implement a method for the generation of a wide class of partially spatially coherent vortex beams whose cross-spectral density has a separable functional form in polar coordinates. We study phase singularities of the spectral degree of coherence of the new beams.