3x3 Mach-Zehnder interferometer with unbalanced differential detection for full-range swept-source optical coherence tomography.

Appl Opt. 2008 Apr 20;47(12):2004-10

Authors: Mao Y, Sherif S, Flueraru C, Chang S

Quadrature interferometry based on 3x3 fiber couplers could be used to double the effective imaging depth in swept-source optical coherence tomography. This is due to its ability to suppress the complex conjugate artifact naturally. We present theoretical and experimental results for a 3x3 Mach-Zehnder interferometer using a new unbalanced differential optical detection method. The new interferometer provides simultaneous access to complementary phase components of the complex interferometric signal. No calculations by trigonometric relationships are needed. We demonstrate a complex conjugate artifact suppression of 27 dB obtained ...