title: Resolution improvement with dispersion manipulation and a retrieval algorithm in optical coherence tomography.
abstract: We propose and demonstrate what is to our knowledge a novel technique of improving the spatial resolution of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system given a non-Gaussian light source spectrum. By using dispersive materials in the reference arm of the OCT system, the resultant dispersion variation led to a full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of the interference fringe envelope smaller than the Fourier transform-limited value of a Gaussian spectral shape with the same spectral FWHM, at the expense of significant tails. The effects of the tails, which would blur the OCT images, were tremendously reduced with a retrieval algorithm. Simulation results and processed OCT scanning images have shown the capability of the proposed technique.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Graduate Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Taiwan University, 1, Roosevelt Road, Section 4, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: I-Jen
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Chia-Wei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Chih-Wei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chun-Ping
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: Chii-Wann
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lin