Abstract

The classical coherence theory believes that the optical wave from any real light source consists of a number of frequencies (or called spectrum bandwidth), and that the optical waves with different frequency are incoherent. ¹For this reason, if two optical waves, derived from the same practical light source but traversed different paths, are recombined, the intensity of the resulting electric field will be equal to the sum of the intensities produced by all individual optical frequencies. This theory, however, is hardly capable of describing optical frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) interference, because the fundamental assumption for optical FMCW interference is that the optical waves with a varying frequency are coherent.²

© 2005 Optical Society of America