High-speed polygon-scanner-based wavelength-swept laser source in the telescope-less configurations with application in optical coherence tomography

Abstract

A compact high-speed tuning laser source is demonstrated in two different configurations using a polygonal mirror scanner without a telescope. It is shown that the filter configuration finesse increases by utilizing multiple reflections from the polygon facet(s) and grating illumination(s). Theoretically, the free spectral range (FSR), the instantaneous linewidth, and the finesse of each filter configuration are derived. For single grating illumination, the measured coherence length, FSR, and power were 2.8 mm, 184 nm, and 40 mW at the scanning frequency of 50 kHz, respectively. Coherence length, FSR, and power of the second laser configuration were 6.2 mm, 117 nm, and 35 mW, respectively. Finally, images of a human finger were acquired in vivo using two proposed swept-source configurations.