Theoretical and experimental investigation of Optical Coherent Tomography topologies

Abstract
Optical Coherent Tomography is a measurement technique, which enables us to visualize the internal structure of the investigated object with very high resolution. In OCT systems on order to detect the measured signal the measurement techniques such as: optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) and optical low-coherent reflectometry (OLCR), are employed. In both methods it is necessary to use at least one interferometer. Up today a few topologies for Optical Coherent Tomography have been employed. Still, the most popular is configuration with Michelson interferometer, but also Fizuea is performed as well. Furthermore, it is known that using balanced configuration interferometer topologies is possible to effectively reduce noise-to-signal ratio. Hence, the use of the second interferometer is necessary. In this situation a few of interferometer topologies can be used. In this article the theoretical and experimental investigation of interferometer topologies for Optical Coherent Tomography will be analyzed. The optimal configuration of the designed system has been presented. By the use of a special configuration, our OCT system is sensitive to change of polarization of measured signals.