All-fiber spectral-domain optical coherence tomography with high resolution by using a PCF-based broadband coupler and a k-domain linearization method

We demonstrate spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) with high axial resolution and high image acquisition speed, which is realized by using a broadband coupler based on a photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The PCF-based coupler with broad bandwidth was fabricated by using a fused biconical tapered (FBT) method, and the axial resolution of the SD-OCT was improved to be 2 µm. The image acquisition speed of the SD-OCT was estimated to be 500 Hz. A k-domain linearization method was exploited to compensate for the mismatched spectral information between the wave-number and the pixel position at the CCD, which was induced by the nonlinearity of the diffraction grating plate.