Incoherent interference

Jerry B. Marion, Mark A. Heald

Kaige Wang

The interference phenomenon of light is a common but most important effect in physics. In this article, we compare and analyse the interference effects of both coherent and incoherent light; in particular, the interference of spatially incoherent light sources is described. Thermal light and a two-photon entangled source may both be regarded as incoherent sources which can generate similar second-order interference effects, but their underlying physics is quite different. First-order interference can be realized with both spatially coherent and incoherent sources in the same well-designed experimental setup, but exhibit different interference patterns; their different interference mechanisms will also be clarified.

Ali Golestani, Ahad Darkhosh, Hossein Seifoory +2 more

The effect of quantum interference from incoherent pump field on the Kerr nonlinearity of V- and Lambda-type three-level systems is investigated. It is found that enhanced Kerr nonlinearity can be obtained via quantum interference of incoherent pump field. It is also demonstrated that the enhanced Kerr nonlinearity is located in the reduced-absorption region. The enhancement of Kerr nonlinearity is attributed mainly to the presence of extra atomic coherence induced by quantum interference from incoherent pump field.

John Ewan Inglesfield

Yuan Li, Shang Qing Gong, Zhi Zhan Xu

In recent years it has been shown that atomic coherence or interference of pathways can be established through incoherent processes. We have investigated the generation of optical bistability via interference of incoherent pump processes, which is a new incoherent method leading to atomic coherence. The standard model of optical bistability with an atomic sample is considered.