Encyclopedia > Coherence length

  Article Content

Coherence length

In telecommunication, coherence length is the propagation distance from a coherent source to a point where an electromagnetic wave maintains a specified degree of coherence[?].

Note 1: In long-distance transmission systems, the coherence length may be reduced by propagation factors such as dispersion, scattering, and diffraction.

Note 2: In optical communications, the coherence length, L , is given approximately by L = λ2/(n Δλ), where λ is the central wavelength of the source, n is the refractive index of the medium, and Δλ is the spectral width of the source.

Note 3: Coherence length is usually applied to the optical regime.

Source: from Federal Standard 1037C and from MIL-STD-188



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Digital Rights Management

... prove more difficult to circumvent, including copy-prevention codes embedded in broadcast HDTV signals and the Palladium operating system. A wide variety of DRM systems ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 33.4 ms