Determination of the depth resolved Stokes parameters of light backscattered from turbid media using polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography

Summary form only given. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) images generally display the depth resolved magnitude of backscattered light. Here we present a new technique to determine the depth resolved Stokes parameters of light backscattered from turbid media using polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT). Our instrument combines the principles of interferometric ellipsometry and OCT. Previous work on PS-OCT used incoherent detection techniques and were limited to measurement of two of the four Stokes parameters. In our instrumentation, coherent detection of the interference fringes in two orthogonal polarization states allows determination of the four Stokes parameters. A potentially useful biomedical application is burn depth determination. PS-OCT was used to measure the decrease of collagen birefringence in rodent skin due to thermal denaturation.