Updated on 27 January 2017
ORAL PRESENTATION
Polarization-sensitive plug-in optical module for a Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography system
Manuel J. Marques, Sylvain Rivet, Adrian Bradu, Adrian Podoleanu
31 January 2017 • 2:45 – 3:00 PM | Part of SPIE BiOS
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Abstract
In this manuscript we communicate a theoretical study on a plug-in optical module to be used within a Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography system (FD-OCT). The module can be inserted between the object under investigation and any single-mode fiber based FD-OCT imaging instrument, enabling the latter to carry out polarimetric measurements on the former. Similarly to our previous communication, this is an active module which requires two sequential steps to perform a polarimetric measurement. Alternating between the two steps is achieved by changing the value of the retardance produced by two electro-optic polarization modulators, which behave as a polarization state rotator. By combining the rotation of the polarization state with a projection against a linear polarizer it is possible to ensure that the polarimetric measurements are free from any undesirable polarization effects caused by the birefringence in the collecting fiber and diattenuation in the fiber-based couplers employed in the system. Unlike our previous work, though, this module adopts an in-line configuration, employing a Faraday rotator to ensure a non-reciprocal behavior between the forward and backward propagation paths.
The module design also allows higher imaging rates due to the use of fast electro-optic modulators. Simulations have been carried out accounting for the chromatic effects of the polarization components, in order to evaluate the theoretical performance of the module.
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Polarization-sensitive plug-in optical module for a Fourier-domain OCT system