Side-imaging lensed photonic crystal fiber probe

摘要

We report on the fabrication and performance of a lensed photonic crystal fiber (PCF) designed as a compact but effective side-viewing optical imaging probe. The lensed-PCF probe was implemented in a single body without using any other fibers or additional optics. The beam expansion region and a focusing ball lens, necessary as a focuser, were simultaneously formed along a small piece of PCF by using arc discharges. The side-viewing ability was endowed by polishing the ball lens with a femto-second laser to form a TIR (total internal reflection) surface. The working distance and the transverse resolution of the fabricated single-body lensed-PCF were experimentally measured to be ～570 μm and 6.8 μm, respectively. With the proposed lensed-PCF probe, OCT images of an in vitro biological sample were successfully obtained