Geometric & Radiometric Vignetting Associated with a 72-Facet, Off-Axis, Polygon Mirror for Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography (SS-OCT)

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) has a broad range of applications in 2D and volumetric imaging of micron scale structures typically used on inaccessible objects such as the retina of the eye. This report focuses on Swept Source OCT (SS-OCT), favoured for its faster scanning speeds and therefore faster data acquisition (highly favourable when imaging live patients). SS-OCT relies on the scanning of a narrow laser line at speeds typically in excess of 100?kHz. We have employed ZemaxTM ray tracing software to simulate one method of splitting the spectrum of a broadband, near-infrared source, into its component wavelengths by reflecting the spectrum from an off-axis, 72-facet polygon mirror at a frequency of 48?kHz. We specifically addressed the geometric and radiometric vignetting associated with the reflected spectrum off an individual mirrored facet and how this may impose limitations to the incident beam size and hence lead to a loss in the power available from the source. It was found that for certain configurations up to 44% of the light was lost at the edges of the spectrum due to both radiometric and geometric vignetting, which may result in an effective swept range of <50?nm from an initial bandwidth of 100?nm. Our simulations account for real refractive errors and losses in the beam caused by lens aberrations, and produce a model of the sampling function of wavelength against time.