Spatial partially coherent imaging

Abstract

We introduce the partial coherence response function for describing the behaviour of imaging systems under spatial partially coherent illumination in the centre and the diierence coordinates notation. It involves the impulse response of the system and the spatial coherence properties of the illumination. It is shown that this function is the image cross-spectral density for a Young's pair of pinholes attached at the object plane. Furthermore, the partial coherence response function and the partial coherence transfer function constitute a Fourier pair on which the Fourier representation of partially coherent imaging can be based.