Broadband spatiotemporal Gaussian Schell-model pulse trains.

A new class of partially coherent model sources is introduced on the basis of the second-order coherence theory of nonstationary optical fields. These model sources are spatially fully coherent at each frequency but can have broadband spectra and variable spectral coherence properties, which lead to reduced spatiotemporal coherence in the time domain. The source model is motivated by the spectral coherence properties of supercontinuum pulse trains generated in single-spatial-mode optical fibers. We demonstrate that such broadband light is highly (but not completely) spatially coherent, even though the spectral and temporal coherence properties may vary over a wide range. The model sources introduced here are convenient in assessing the spatiotemporal coherence of broadband pulses in optical systems.