Tuning Superluminescent Diode Characteristics for Optical Coherence Tomography Systems by Utilizing a Multicontact Device Incorporating Wavelength-Modulated Quantum Dots

Author

Greenwood, Purnima D L ; Childs, David T D ; Groom, Kristian M. ; Stevens, Benjamin J. ; Hopkinson, Mark ; Hogg, Richard A.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. & Electr. Eng., Univ. of Sheffield, Sheffield

Volume

15

Issue

3

fYear

2009

Firstpage

757

Lastpage

763

Abstract

This paper details the development of broadband sources at 1050 nm for optical coherence tomography applications. A method for obtaining a broad and smooth emission and gain spectrum for 1050 nm quantum dot (QD) layers is presented. The design, fabrication, and operating characteristics of multicontact superluminescent diodes are then set out, and the operating characteristics of this device, incorporating the broadband QD material, are described. It is shown that this device allows the tuning of the emission spectrum peak position, peak shape, emission bandwidth, and power, which are advantageous for imaging applications. A simplified device, utilizing a single current source, is achieved by incorporating a resistor network. The operation of the multicontact device under various drive topologies is discussed.

Keywords

biomedical optical imaging; light sources; optical design techniques; optical fabrication; optical modulation; optical tomography; quantum dots; superluminescent diodes; OCT; broadband source; current source; drive topology; emission spectrum; medical imaging; multicontact device fabrication; optical coherence tomography system; resistor network; superluminescent diode characteristics; wavelength 1050 nm; wavelength-modulated quantum dot; Optical coherence tomography (OCT); quantum dot (QD); superluminescent diode;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1077-260X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JSTQE.2009.2013481

Filename

4785508