title: Full-field optical coherence tomography using nematic liquid-crystal phase shifter.
abstract: We present a polarization Linnik interference microscope with a nematic liquid-crystal (NLC) phase shifter for full-field optical coherence tomography of high-quality images. The rotating half-wave plate in conventional achromatic phase shifters was replaced by three liquid-crystal (LC) half-wave plates for implementing three-step phase-shifting interferometry. Thus, the NLC device generates phase shifts quickly and has no vibrations. In addition, the phase shift can be set to an arbitrary value between 0 and 2π by altering the azimuth angles of the LC cells. A tomographic image is retrieved from three sequential phase-shifted interferograms by using a three-step algorithm. The experimental results confirm the feasibility of the proposed technology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Photonics, Feng Chia University, No. 100, Wenhwa Road, Seatwen, Taichung 407, Taiwan. shlu@fcu.edu.tw
authors.forename: Sheng-Hua
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Chien-Yell
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cho-Yen
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Kuan-Yu
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: Hui-Yu
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D004867:Equipment Design; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D007368:Interferometry / Q000295:instrumentation; D050866:Liquid Crystals; D008857:Microscopy, Interference / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods