Experimental Observation of Invariance of Spectral Degree of Coherence with Change in Bandwidth of Light

Abstract

An experimental study is conducted to show the effect of the change in bandwidth of light on the spectral degree of coherence at a pair of points in the cross-section of a beam. For this purpose a polychromatic source and a monochromator with variable entrance and exit slits were used to produce a variable bandwidth source. The classic Youngs interferometer was used to produce an interference pattern. The spectral measurements of the visibility of the interference fringes show that the spectral degree of coherence remains unaffected by the change in the frequency pass-band of the light.