Generation and intensity-correlation measurements of the real Gaussian field.

The generation of a broadband laser field with well-defined and controllable statistical properties, known as the real Gaussian laser field, has been achieved through the random modulation of the amplitude of a stabilized laser beam. The verification of the field-generation technique is provided by measurements of the laser power spectrum (Lorentzian) and by measurements of the intensity autocorrelation function. The latter is shown to decrease exponentially from an initial value of nearly 3 to a final value of 1 with a decay time related to the inverse bandwidth of the field. The techniques for generating this field and for its characterization are discussed in this paper.