Using inhomogeneity in light energy distribution for estimating the degree of coherence of superposing waves

摘要

The paper presents a new method for determining the degree of coherence of superposing plane linearly polarized waves converging at the angle of 90°. The spatial modulation of polarization, which causes the spatial modulation of the averaged values of the Poynting vector, presets the modulation of the volume energy density. Such an inhomogeneous optical field can affect nanosize particles, randomly caught in this field. It is shown that the maximum velocity of "trapping" the particles into the regions of maximum averaged values of the Poynting vector determines the degree of coherence of interacting waves.