Abstract

The degree of phase cross correlation between a fluctuating pump wave and the Stokes wave, which is generated by stimulated Raman scattering, can be determined by observing the spectrum of anti-Stokes light generated by coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS). The spectrum of the anti-Stokes light has two distinct features: one that arises from scattering through an off-resonant virtual level and one that arises from resonant scattering through the real level. This provides a method to measure the phase cross correlation between two optical fields of different color. The intensity of the anti-Stokes signal strongly depends on the degree of cross correlation. Depending on the detuning from Raman resonance in the CARS process, the anti-Stokes intensity can be either enhanced or suppressed with respect to the case of uncorrelated fields.¹

© 1988 Optical Society of America