Source coherence-based far-field intensity filtering.

An inherent relationship between an invariant far-field beam intensity pattern and the convolution of any two legitimate degrees of coherence in the source plane is established. Two classes of random sources are introduced by modeling the source degree of coherence with the help of the convolution operation of the Gaussian Schell-model correlation function and the multi-sinc Schell-model correlation function in the polar and Cartesian symmetries. The established relationships are used to explore the far-field intensity features produced by the new sources. It is shown that the far-field intensity patterns of the novel sources have multi-sinc Schell-model transverse distributions with a Gaussian envelope, looking like the multi-sinc Schell-model beams filtered by a soft-edge Gaussian aperture. The results demonstrate the potential of coherence modulation of the source fields for far-field beam shaping applications.