optica acta, 1970, vor. 17, No. 10, 761-772 Some statistical properties of random speckle patterns in coherent and partially coherent illumination J.C. DAINTY Applied Optics Section, Physics Department, Imperial College, London, 8.W.7 (Received 12 March 1970) Abstract. The power spectrum of the intensity fluctuations in a random speckle pattern is derived in a simplified manner for coherent illumination, ‘The effect of the power spectrum on the measured signal-to-noise ratio is discussed, and some preliminary measurements of the power spectrum are presented. ‘The power spectrum of the intensity Auctuations for partially coherent illumina- tion is derived for the special case of an aberration-free system, using quadratic filter theory. 1. Introduction It is well known that when coherent light is incident on a surface which is optically rough, a random intensity pattern is formed. Consider the arrangement in figure 1, where more or less coherent light is incident on a diffuser. A screen placed anywhere beyond the diffuser, at Q for example, will pick up a random intensity pattern, which is loosely referred to as a speckle pattern. A lens imaging any object O will also have a similar random intensity pattern. ‘The scale of the speckle pattern depends on the arigular subtense of, in the first case, the diffusing aperture A viewed from the Q plane, and in the second case, the entrance pupil E viewed from the J plane. ‘The contrast in the speckle pattern depends on the coherence properties of the incident radiation, A number of authors have discussed the statistical properties of speckle patterns produced by coherent light [1-7]. The first-order statistics were discussed by Goodman [1, 2], and his results are given in this paper only for completeness. ‘The second-order statistics (autocorrelation functions and power spectra) were evaluated by Tiziani [3], Goldfischer [7], and Enloe [6]. In this paper a simplified method of investigating the second-order statistics in coherent illumination is given. ‘The method is a straightforward application of linear filter theory and square law detection theory. CORERENT LiGHT DEFUSER Figure 1. Production of a speckle pattern. A:speckle pattern exists anywhere in space beyond the diffuser, for example at Q or I.762 J.C, Dainty Few experimental results on speckle pattern statistics have been reported, Gould et al. [8] showed that the root mean square intensity fluctuation in a speckle pattern equalled the mean intensity, and Condie [9] made a more thorough investigation of the first-order statistics. A few preliminary results for the power spectrum of the intensity fluctuations in an image with speckle are given in this paper. Finally,-an-expression is obtained for the power spectrum of the intensity fluctuations in a speckle pattern produced by a partially coherent optical system. In the method used, the partially coherent system is considered to be a quadratic filter [10] with Gaussian noise input. ‘The expression is derived for an optical system which is essentially aberration-free, but the principle of the method should be generally applicable. 2. Speckle patterns in coherent illumination 2.1, First-order statistics The first-order statistics of speckle patterns in coherent illumination are discussed by Goodman [1, 2]. Let the complex amplitude in the image plane be denoted by U(x, y). ‘Then U(x, y)=Un(e, 9) + iUi(*, 9»), where Up and Uy are the real and imaginary parts respectively. By using the central limit theorem [11], it can be shown that the joint probability distribution for the real and imaginary parts of the complex amplitude is of the form: P(Ugy U;)= sop (-e). ay Let the real amplitude be A(s, ), the intensity I(x, y), and the phase 4(x, ¥): Als, 9) = [UH 9) 1% 9) =| »)P Uy(x, 9) (x, y)=tan-2 . Heer Tey) By using simple probability transformations [12], it can be shown that the joint probability distributions for A(x, y) and 4(x, y), and for I(x, y) and (2, y), are of the form: P(A, $)= Aion (- 4) Az0, 0<¢<2xz, (2) PU, $)= — (-2)- I>0, 0<$<2n. 3) It is clear that the real and imaginary parts have a Gaussian distribution, the amplitude has a Rayleigh distribution, and the intensity has a negative exponential distribution. The phase is uniformly distributed in the interval 0 to 27. It-follows from equation (3) that the root mean square intensity fluctuation equals the mean intensity. In practice, however, the root mean square fluctuation is measured with an aperture of finite area. - The required probability density function is found by assuming that the receiving aperture consists of M indepen- dent spatial correlation cells, the intensity being constant within any one cell, andStatistics of speckle patterns 763, also statistically independent of the intensity in all other cells. Goodman [2] showed that the probability density function of the measured intensity is of the form: a® 21 exp (—al) Py(D)= Tuy » 120, (4) where I’ is the Gamma function: 2) wy ae ae o4=measured r.m.s, intensity fluctuation. ‘This expression is used in §2.4. 2.2. Second-order statistics Some properties of the second-order statistics of speckle patterns in coherent illumination have been investigated by Enloe [6] and Gerritson et al. [13], and mentioned by Tiziani [3]. In this section a simplified method of evaluating the power spectrum f of the intensity fluctuations is developed. Let the optical system be represented by a linear filter whose impulse response is K(x, y) and whose transfer function is F(u, v). ‘The transfer function is equal to the pupil function, suitably scaled [14]. If the complex amplitude distribution in an object is U(x, y), then the complex amplitude distribution in the image, U’(x, 9), is given by: U(x, »)= U(x, y)P* K(x, 9) where * denotes convolution. Suppose that U(x, y) is a stationary stochastic process with a power spectrum N,(u, 0). If this process is passed through a linear filter, the output power spectrum, N,’(u,-0), is given by [15]: Nui(u, 0) =|F(u 0) 2 -Nu(u, ©). () ‘To obtain the power spectrum of the intensity fluctuations, consider a square law detector, such that A(x, 9) =|U(x, »)P- Given the input power spectrum of complex amplitude, what is the output power spectrum of intensity? ‘This square law detection problem has been solved by Rice [16] in his classic work on random noise. ‘The output power spectrum of the intensity fluctuations about the mean intensity is given by: Nj (u, 0) = Ny'(u v)®Ny'(u, 2), (6) where denotes autocorrelation, and N,'(u, ©) is the input power spectrum of complex amplitude. Combination of equations (5) and (6) yields: Nj'(u, 0) =[P(u, 0)P Nu(u, 0) AFH, )P Male, 0), ” which, for a white noise input (which will occur when the diffuser is relatively large), reduces to: Ny'(, 0)=|F(H, &)P*IF(u, 2) 2 (8) + The modulus of the frequency spectrum of the intensity fluctuations, which is the square root of the power spectrum, has a more obvious physical interpretation, but the power spectrum has more useful properties.