Open AccessSwept source cross-polarized optical coherence tomography for any input polarized light
Author(s) -
Gargi Sharma,
Shivani Sharma,
Katharina Blessing,
Georg Hartl,
Maximilian J. Waldner,
Kanwarpal Singh
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of optics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.918
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2040-8986
pISSN - 2040-8978
DOI - 10.1088/2040-8986/ab746a
Subject(s) - waveplate , optical coherence tomography , optics , polarization (electrochemistry) , birefringence , physics , polarization rotator , polarization controller , coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) , polarimetry , laser , quantum mechanics , chemistry , fiber laser , scattering
Cross polarized optical coherence tomography (OCT) offers enhanced contrast in certain pathological conditions. Traditional cross-polarized OCT systems require a defined input polarization and thus require several polarization controlling elements increasing the overall complexity of the system. Our proposed system requires a single quarter wave plate as a polarization controller thus simplifying the system significantly. The majority of cross-polarized OCT systems are spectrometer based, which suffers from slow speed and low signal to noise ratio. In this work, we present a swept source based cross-polarized OCT system that works for any input polarization state. The system was tested against known birefringent materials such as quarter wave plate. Furthermore, biological samples such as finger, nail and chicken breast were imaged to demonstrate the potential of our technique.