Partially Coherent Cylindrical Vector Sources

Abstract

A new class of stationary electromagnetic sources radiating outward from the surface of an infinitely long cylinder is introduced via vectorial coherent mode representation. First, two particular types of such sources are discussed: with either an electric or magnetic field aligned with the cylinder’s axis. The former case represents a scalar scenario, while the latter leads to the two-component electric field. The combination of these two types of sources is then considered by forming the three-component electric field vector. An extension to the stationary case is then made in which the electric field correlations are shown to be described by the intrinsically 3×3 cross-spectral density matrix. Several known theories of electromagnetic coherence and polarization are then invoked for the analysis of radiation, on and off the source surface. The results for the spectral density, degree of coherence, and degree of polarization are then discussed in detail. The effects of mutual correlation of modes are also outlined. The new family of sources is of importance for any application involving cylindrical sources with controllable radiation.

Keywords

• partial coherence
• polarization
• cylindrical sources