Dual mode-locked swept sources for SS-OCT

A novel dual-mode-locking mechanism was developed in order to tune an akinetic swept source (AKSS) based on dispersive cavity at a repetition rate close to, but slightly different from the inverse of the cavity roundtrip. Several optical source configurations emitting in the 1060 nm or 1550 nm wavelength region were developed, characterized and tested in OCT applications. For the 1550 nm swept source employing a Faraday rotating mirror in a dispersive cavity, sweeping rates in the range of MHz were achieved, from 782 kHz to up to 5 times this value, with proportional decrease in the tuning bandwidth. Linewidths smaller than 60 pm and output powers exceeding a few mW were measured. The 1060 nm swept source implemented was used to generate OCT images of a pressure sensitive adhesive. © (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.