Abstract

Spatial interference of light from two independent thermallike sources has been observed using two separate sources of transient stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). Single shot realizations of interference fringes were recorded. Such fringes cannot be observed in the usual circumstances due to the short temporal coherence and low mode occupation of typical thermal sources. By using transient SRS, we can generate light pulses with macroscopic energy and a high degree of temporal coherence. Each Stokes pulse can be described classically as having a well defined amplitude and phase. However, since it originates from quantum noise, both the amplitude and phase fluctuate from one shot to another. The amplitude fluctuation of Stokes light has been studied experimentally¹ and theoretically.²

© 1990 Optical Society of America