Partially coherent vortex beam exhibits some unique and interesting properties, for example, correlation singularities (i.e., ring dislocations) exist in its correlation function, and one can determine the magnitude of the topological charge of the vortex phase from the number of the ring dislocations. Modulating the coherence of a vortex beam provides a convenient way for shaping its focused beam spot, which is useful for material processing and optical trapping. Furthermore, a partially coherent vortex beam has an advantage over a partially coherent beam without vortex phase for reducing turbulence‐induced scintillation, which will be useful in free‐space optical communications. We introduce recent theoretical and experimental developments on partially coherent vortex beams.
Part of the book: Vortex Dynamics and Optical Vortices