Experimental generation of a partially coherent flat-topped beam

An efficient optical system is proposed to generate a partially coherent flat-topped (FT) beam theoretically. Furthermore, we report the experimental generation of a partially coherent FT beam based on the proposed optical system. The intensity distribution and the modulus of the square of the spectral degree of coherence of the generated partially coherent FT beam are measured. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical results. (c) 2008 Optical Society of America