True-spectroscopic dual mode high resolution full-field optical coherence tomography using liquid crystal devices

摘要

The invention is a system and method for obtaining interference and optical coherence tomography images from an object. The system comprises a wideband source, an optical mask for extending the depth of field, a a liquid crystal tunable filter and a phase modulator all of which are uniquely integrated in a Linnik interferometer microscope. The system has several imaging modes: in the time domain mode the device may operate either with wideband illumination or with quasi monochromatic illumination. The monochromatic illumination can be varied in wavelength along a wide spectral region thus allowing true spectroscopic imaging in high resolution and with high speed. Due to the liquid crystal tunable filter and the optical mask, the frequency domain mode is also accessible. The method of obtaining the optical coherence tomography images, both in the time and in the frequency domains, using the liquid crystal retarder is described in detail.