Method and apparatus for performing optical imaging using frequency-domain interferometry
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- at least one first arrangement providing at least one first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation to a non-reflective reference, wherein a frequency of radiation provided by the at least one first arrangement varies over time; and
at least one detecting second arrangement detecting an interference between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method are provided. In particular, at least one first electro-magnetic radiation may be provided to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation can be provided to a non-reflective reference. A frequency of the first and/or second radiations varies over time. An interference is detected between at least one third radiation associated with the first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the second radiation. Alternatively, the first electro-magnetic radiation and/or second electro-magnetic radiation have a spectrum which changes over time. The spectrum may contain multiple frequencies at a particular time. In addition, it is possible to detect the interference signal between the third radiation and the fourth radiation in a first polarization state. Further, it may be preferable to detect a further interference signal between the third and fourth radiations in a second polarization state which is different from the first polarization state. The first and/or second electro-magnetic radiations may have a spectrum whose mean frequency changes substantially continuously over time at a tuning speed that is greater than 100 Tera Hertz per millisecond.
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Citations
96 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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at least one first arrangement providing at least one first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation to a non-reflective reference, wherein a frequency of radiation provided by the at least one first arrangement varies over time; and at least one detecting second arrangement detecting an interference between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method comprising:
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providing at least one first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation to a non-reflective reference, wherein a frequency of the at least one of the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation or the at least one second electro-magnetic radiations varies over time; and using at least one detecting arrangement, detecting an interference between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation.
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21. An apparatus comprising:
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at least one first arrangement providing at least one first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein at least one of the first and second electro-magnetic radiations has a spectrum which changes over time, the spectrum containing multiple differing longitudinal modes; and at least one detecting second arrangement detecting an interference between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A method comprising:
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providing at least one first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein at least one of the first and second electro-magnetic radiation has a spectrum which changes over time, the spectrum containing multiple differing longitudinal modes; and using at least one detecting arrangement, detecting an interference between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation. - View Dependent Claims (47)
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48. An apparatus comprising:
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at least one first arrangement providing at least one first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein a frequency of radiation provided by the at least one first arrangement varies over time; at least one polarization modulator arrangement which is configured to modulate a polarization of at least one of the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation or the at least one second electro-magnetic radiation over time; at least one second arrangement detecting a first interference signal between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation in a first polarization state; and at least one third arrangement detecting a second interference signal between the third and fourth electro-magnetic radiations in a second polarization state, wherein the first and second polarization states being different from one another, wherein at least one of the at least one second arrangement or the at least one third arrangement is at least one detecting arrangement. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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70. A method comprising:
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providing at least one first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein a frequency of the at least one of the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation or the at least one second electro-magnetic radiations varies over time; modulating a polarization of at least one of the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation or the at least one second electro-magnetic radiation over time; detecting a first interference signal between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation in a first polarization state; and detecting a second interference signal between the third and fourth electro-magnetic radiations in a second polarization state, wherein the first and second polarization states being different from one another, wherein at least one of the first interference signal or the second interference signal is detected using at least one detecting arrangement. - View Dependent Claims (71)
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72. An apparatus comprising:
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at least one first arrangement providing at least one first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein at least one of the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation or the at least one second electro-magnetic radiation has a spectrum whose mean frequency changes substantially continuously over time at a tuning speed that is greater than 100 Tera Hertz per millisecond; and at least one detecting second arrangement detecting an interference between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation. - View Dependent Claims (73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94)
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95. A method comprising:
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providing at least one first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein at least one of the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation or the at least one second electro-magnetic radiation has a spectrum whose mean frequency changes substantially continuously over time at a tuning speed that is greater than 100 Tera Hertz per millisecond; and using at least one detecting arrangement, detecting an interference between at least one third radiation associated with the at least one first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the at least one second radiation.
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96. An apparatus comprising:
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at least one first arrangement providing at least one first electro-magnetic radiation to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation to a reference, wherein a frequency of at least one of the at least one first electromagnetic radiation or the at least one second electromagnetic radiation provided by the at least one first arrangement varies over time; at least one second arrangement configured to shift the frequency of at least one of the at least one first electro-magnetic radiation or the at least one second electromagnetic radiation and further configured to at least partially reduce, differentiate or eliminate negative frequency components of the frequency; an interferometer interfering the first and second electro-magnetic radiations to produce an interference signal; and at least one detecting third arrangement configured to detecting the interference between the first and second electro-magnetic radiations.
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Specification