On-axis polarization of beams radiated by electromagnetic circularly coherent sources

Abstract

Partially coherent electromagnetic sources with cylindrical symmetry and infinite extent radiating outwards are introduced. Their 3x3 cross-spectral density matrix is given through expansions of the field components in terms of basis functions related to the Hankel functions. The spectral density and the three-dimensional degree of polarization of such sources and the fields they radiate are examined. Several examples are presented and discussed. Among them, a class of cylindrical sources whose coherent vector modes coincide with the above basis functions is defined and studied.