1550 nm superluminescent diode and anti-stokes effect CCD camera based optical coherence tomography for full-field optical metrology

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a well-established non-invasive imaging technology capable of carrying out 3D high-resolution cross-sectional images of the internal microstructure of examined material. However, almost all of these systems are expensive, requiring the use of complex optical setups, expensive light sources and complicated scanning of the sample under test. In addition, most of these systems have not taken advantage of the competitively priced optical components available at wavelength within the main optical communications band located in the 1550 nm region. A comparatively simple and inexpensive full-field OCT system (FFOCT), based on a Superluminescent Diode (SLD) with an Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) light source and anti-stokes imaging device was constructed, to perform 3D cross-sectional imaging. This kind of inexpensive setup with moderate resolution could be applicable in low-level biomedical and industrial diagnostics. This work involves assembly, calibration of the system and determines its suitability for imaging structures of biological tissues such as teeth, which has low absorption at 1550 nm. The first ever 1550 nm full-field OCT system is presented.