Abstract

The variation of the radiance of a rough surface with respect to the angle between the observer and the optical axes, is investigated. It is experimentally shown that the polar radiance distribution arising from coherently illuminated rough surfaces varies more than the distribution arising from incoherently rough surfaces. The results show that the image radiances of surfaces of different roughness are critically dependent upon the degree of coherence relative to the scale of the surface roughness for a fixed observer. The differences of the radiation-field patterns for a given surface when illuminated by coherent and incoherent light are demonstrated. Both reflection and transmission experiments are described.

© 1966 Optical Society of America

Effects of Coherence on Imaging Systems*

Philip S. Considine
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(8) 1001-1009 (1966)

Polarization, Directional Distribution, and Off-Specular Peak Phenomena in Light Reflected from Roughened Surfaces

K. E. Torrance, E. M. Sparrow, and R. C. Birkebak
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(7) 916-925 (1966)

Effects of Partial Coherence on Holography with Diffuse Illumination

M. Lurie
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(10) 1369-1372 (1966)

Theory of speckle dependence on surface roughness*

Hans M. Pedersen
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 66(11) 1204-1210 (1976)

Measurement of surface roughness properties by using image speckle contrast

Hitoshi Fujii, Toshimitsu Asakura, and Yoshio Shindo
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 66(11) 1217-1222 (1976)