title: Ultra-compact silicon photonic integrated interferometer for swept-source optical coherence tomography.
abstract: We demonstrate an ultra-compact silicon integrated photonic interferometer for swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). The footprint of the integrated interferometer is only 0.75×5  mm2. The design consists of three 2×2 splitters, a 13 cm physical length (50.4 cm optical length) reference arm, and grating couplers. The photonic integrated circuit was used as the interferometer of an SS-OCT system. The sensitivity of the system was measured to be -62  dB with 115 μW power delivered to the sample. Using the system, we demonstrate cross-sectional OCT imaging of a layered tissue phantom. We also discuss potential improvements in passive silicon photonic integrated circuit design and integration with active components.
authors.forename: Günay
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yurtsever
authors.forename: Nicolás
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kalkman
authors.forename: Ton G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: van Leeuwen
authors.forename: Roel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baets
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007368:Interferometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055620:Optical Phenomena; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D012825:Silicon; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D012825:Silicon