Back to results
US 6,654,127 B2Granted
Optical delay line
AssigneeCarl Zeiss Ophthalmic Systems, Inc.
InventorsMatt J. Everett, Jay Wei
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention is an optical delay line that comprises a plurality of optical elements in optical communication with each other, wherein: (a) at least one of the plurality of optical elements is capable of spatially dispersing a spectrum of an optical signal to provide a spatially dispersed optical signal; (b) at least one of the plurality of optical elements is adjustable to affect one or more of a phase delay and a group delay of an optical signal; and (c) at least one of the plurality of optical elements compensates for polarization introduced into the optical signal by others of the optical elements.
Claims34
An optical delay line which comprises:
- a plurality of optical elements in optical communication with each other, wherein:
- at least one of the plurality of optical elements is capable of spatially dispersing a spectrum of an optical signal to provide a spatially dispersed optical signal;
- at least one of the plurality of optical elements is adjustable to affect one or more of a phase delay and a group delay of an optical signal;
- and
- at least one of the plurality of optical elements is a polarization dependent optical element that produces polarization dependent transmission that compensates for polarization dependence of the at least one of the optical elements that is capable of spatially dispersing a spectrum.
2 more elements
An optical delay line which comprises:
- a collimator lens system;
- a grating disposed to receive radiation output from the collimator lens system;
- a collector lens system disposed to receive at least a portion of radiation diffracted by the grating;
- a rotatable mirror disposed substantially at a back focal plane of the collector lens system;
- a reflector disposed to reflect at least a portion of radiation diffracted by the grating;
- and
- a polarization compensation window disposed in a path of radiation passing through the optical delay line, which polarization compensation window produces polarization dependent transmission that compensates for polarization dependence of the grating.
4 more elements
An optical delay line which comprises:
- a collimator lens system;
- a grating disposed to receive radiation output from the collimator lens system;
- a collector lens system disposed to receive at least a portion of radiation diffracted by the grating;
- a rotatable mirror disposed substantially at a back focal plane of the collector lens system;
- a reflector disposed to reflect at least a portion of radiation diffracted by the grating;
- and
- a polarization compensation window disposed in a path of radiation passing through the optical delay line;
- wherein:
- the collimator lens system, the reflector, and an output end of an optical fiber are affixed in a unit, which unit is movable by a translation mechanism.
6 more elements
An optical delay line which comprises:
- a collimator lens system;
- a grating disposed to receive radiation output from the collimator lens system;
- a collector lens system disposed to receive at least a portion of radiation diffracted by the grating;
- a rotatable mirror disposed substantially at a back focal plane of the collector lens system;
- and
- a reflector disposed to reflect at least a portion of radiation diffracted by the grating;
- wherein the collimator lens system, the reflector, and an output end of an optical fiber are affixed in a unit, which unit is movable by a translation mechanism.
4 more elements
An imaging system for imaging a sample comprising:
- an optical source capable of producing an optical signal having an optical spectrum;
- an interferometer in communication with the optical source;
- a detector in optical communication with the interferometer;
- and
- an optical delay line in optical communication with the interferometer that comprises a plurality of optical elements in optical communication with each other, wherein:
- (I) at least one of the plurality of optical elements is capable of spatially dispersing a spectrum of the optical signal to provide a spatially dispersed optical signal, (ii) at least one of the plurality of optical elements is adjustable to affect one or more of a phase delay and a group delay of the optical signal, and (iii) at least one of the plurality of optical elements is a polarization dependent optical element that produces polarization dependent transmission that compensates for polarization dependence of the at least one of the optical elements that is capable of spatially dispersing a spectrum.
3 more elements
A scanning optical coherence tomography imaging system comprising:
- an optical source capable of producing an optical signal having an optical spectrum;
- an interferometer in communication with the optical source;
- a detector in optical communication with the interferometer;
- a signal processor in electrical communication with the detector;
- an optical delay line comprised of optical elements that is in optical communication with the interferometer, wherein (I) at least one of the optical elements is capable of spatially dispersing the optical signal, and (ii) at least one optical element is a polarization dependent optical element that produces polarization dependent transmission to compensate for polarization dependence of the at least one of the optical elements that is capable of spatially dispersing, and the optical delay line further comprises a scanning device capable of adjusting at least one of the optical elements to control an optical group delay;
- and
- wherein:
- (I) the interferometer interferometrically combines the delayed optical signal with a portion of the optical signal scattered by a sample, (ii) the detector detects the interferometrically combined signal to produce one or more of a substantially zero frequency heterodyne signal and a substantially non-zero frequency heterodyne signal in response thereto, and (c) the signal processor produces images of the sample in response to the zero frequency heterodyne signal or non-zero frequency heterodyne signal, respectively.
5 more elements
An imaging system for imaging a sample comprising:
- an optical source capable of producing an optical signal having an optical spectrum;
- an interferometer in communication with the optical source;
- a detector in optical communication with the interferometer;
- and
- an optical delay line which comprises:
- (i) a collimator lens system;
- (ii) a grating disposed to receive radiation output from the collimator lens system;
- (iii) a collector lens system disposed to receive at least a portion of radiation diffracted by the grating;
- (iv) a rotatable mirror disposed substantially at a back focal plane of the collector lens system;
- and (v) a reflector disposed to reflect at least a portion of radiation diffracted by the grating;
- wherein the collimator lens system, the reflector, and an output end of an optical fiber are affixed in a unit, which unit is movable by a translation mechanism.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.