Input polarization-independent polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography using a depolarizer

Sharma S, Hartl G, Naveed SK, Blessing K, Sharma G, Singh K (2020)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Review of Scientific Instruments

Book Volume: 91

Article Number: 043706

Journal Issue: 4

DOI: 10.1063/5.0001871

Abstract

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography is gaining attention because of its ability to diagnose certain pathological conditions at an early stage. The majority of polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography systems require a polarization controller and a polarizer to obtain the optimal polarization state of the light at the sample. Such systems are prone to misalignment since any movement of the optical fiber normally coupled to the light source will change the polarization state of the incident beam. We propose and demonstrate an input polarization-independent polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography system using a depolarizer that works for any input polarization state of the light source. The change in the optical power at the sample for arbitrary input polarized light for the standard polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography system was found to be approximately 84% compared to 9% for our proposed method. The developed system was used to measure the retardance and optical axis orientation of a quarter-wave plate and the obtained values matched closely to the expectation. To further demonstrate the capability of measuring the birefringent properties of biological samples, we also imaged the nail bed. We believe that the proposed system is a robust polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography system and that it will improve the diagnostic capabilities in clinical settings.

Authors with CRIS profile

Katharina Blessing Physics Underlying Life Science

Involved external institutions

Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts (MPL) / Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Sharma, S., Hartl, G., Naveed, S.K., Blessing, K., Sharma, G., & Singh, K. (2020). Input polarization-independent polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography using a depolarizer. Review of Scientific Instruments, 91(4). https://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0001871

MLA:

Sharma, Shivani, et al. "Input polarization-independent polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography using a depolarizer." Review of Scientific Instruments 91.4 (2020).

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