Optical switching of a proposed stationary optical delay line for OCT

Paul Jansz; Graham Wild; Steven Hinckley

doi:10.1117/12.814425

30 December 2008 Optical switching of a proposed stationary optical delay line for OCT

Paul Jansz, Graham Wild, Steven Hinckley

Proceedings Volume 7268, Smart Structures, Devices, and Systems IV; 72681J (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.814425
Event: SPIE Smart Materials, Nano- and Micro-Smart Systems, 2008, Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

In this paper the switching of a proposed Stationary Optical Delay Line (SODL) is demonstrated. This is intended for proof of principle of the switching associated with such a SODL, to be applied to an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) system.. The proposed SODL is made up of one dimensional beam expanding cylindrical lenses, a liquid crystal transmissive Spatial Light Modulator (SLM), and a Stepped Mirrored Structure (SMS). The SLM is to be used as an addressable optical switch. The SMS is an array of staggered mirrored steps, where the step height corresponds to half the optical delay length. The required delay length from the SMS can then be selected with the SLM. In this work, beam expanding optics and a nematic Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) are used to demonstrate the ability to select a spatial region consisting of a row of 4 photodiodes substituting for the SMS. The principle of conventional sequential switching, depth hoping, and multicasting of the four windows generated on the SLM are demonstrated. Rise and fall times were 260 and 150 ms, sufficient to prove the principle of switching at 1Hz. A maximum of 2 Hz could be achievable without detriment to the contrast ratio. The contrast ratios between transparent and opaque LCD window states was 2.4 ± 0.2. The contrast ratios between transparent and light-off states was 23 ± 4. Hence, the contrast ratios between opaque and light-off states was 9 ± 1. These values were within the expected ranges for nematic LC SLMs.

Citation Download Citation

Paul Jansz, Graham Wild, and Steven Hinckley "Optical switching of a proposed stationary optical delay line for OCT", Proc. SPIE 7268, Smart Structures, Devices, and Systems IV, 72681J (30 December 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.814425

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available