Abstract

The use of coherent light enables optical systems to carry out many sophisticated signal-processing operations. However, coherent processing systems are plagued with coherent noise, which frequently limits their processing capability. Although many optical signal-processing operations can be implemented by systems that use incoherent light, there are other severe drawbacks. The incoherent processing system is capable of reducing the inevitable artifact noise, but it generally introduces a dc bias buildup problem, which results in poor noise performance.

© 1983 Optical Society of America