Synthesis of hybrid spatial coherence

Spatial coherence plays a major role in characterizing quasi-monochromatic, partially coherent, optical signals. Here a fairly simple system for synth esizing special cases of spatial coherence is proposed. The special cases, called hybrid, include the case of total coherence in the x direction and, simultaneously, total incoherence in the y direction. The optical setup is based on a quasi-monochromatic, spatially coherent light source, such as a laser, and a simple moving optical element. (C) 1999 Optical Society of Ame rica. OCIS codes: 030.0030, 030.1640.