Full-Field Birefringence Imaging by Thermal-Light Polarization-Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography. I. Theory

Julien Moreau (1) , V. Loriette (1) , A.C. Boccara (2)

1 ESPCI Paris - Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris
2 IL - Institut Langevin - Ondes et Images (UMR7587)

A method for measuring birefringence by use of thermal-light polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography is presented. The use of thermal light brings to polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography a resolution in the micrometer range in three dimensions. The instrument is based on a Linnik interference microscope and makes use of achromatic quarter-wave plates. A mathematical representation of the instrument is presented here, and the detection scheme is described, together with a discussion of the validity domain of the equations used to evaluate the birefringence in the presence of white-light illumination

Mots clés: Optical coherence tomography; Birefringence

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Julien Moreau, V. Loriette, A.C. Boccara. Full-Field Birefringence Imaging by Thermal-Light Polarization-Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography. I. Theory. Applied optics, 2003, 42 (19), pp.3800-3810. ⟨10.1364/AO.42.003800⟩. ⟨hal-00624813⟩