Linear-wavenumber swept source based on an acousto-optic device for optical coherence tomography

Linear-wavenumber swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) enables real-time, high-quality OCT imaging by eliminating the need for data resampling, as required in conventional SS-OCT. In this study, we introduced a high-performance linear-wavenumber swept source (k-SS) with a broad scanning range and high output power. The linear k-SS is an acousto-optic-modulator-based external-cavity laser diode analogous to the Littrow configuration. The k-SS exhibits strong linearity in the 1.3 µm region, justified by a high goodness of fit R² value of 0.9998. Additionally, its scanning range, output power, and linewidth are 120 nm, more than 43 mW, and approximately 1.6 nm, respectively. The sweep rate is 280 Hz after the linear k compensation of the experimental equipment. We demonstrated the effectiveness of the linear k-SS by applying it to measure a sample distribution without k-domain resampling before the Fourier transform. This successful implementation indicates that the linear k-SS has practical potential for application in SS-OCT systems.