Distributed angular double-slit interference with pseudo-thermal light

Abstract

We propose and perform an interference experiment involving a distributed angular double-slit and the orbital angular momentum (OAM) correlations of thermal light. In the experiment, two spatially separated angular apertures are placed in two correlated light beams generated by splitting the thermal light beam via a beam splitter. The superposition of the two spatially separated slits constitutes an angular double-slit in two-photon measurements. The angular interference pattern of the distributed double-slit is measured even though each beam interacts with a different part of the object. This scheme allows us to discriminate among different angular amplitude objects using a classical incoherent light source. This procedure has potential applications in remote sensing or optical metrology in the OAM domain.