Abstract
We demonstrate an all-fiber breathing laser as inertia-free swept source (BLISS), with an ultra-compact design, for the emerging ultrafast bioimaging modalities. The unique feature of BLISS is its broadband wavelength-swept operation () with superior temporal stability in terms of both long term (0.08 dB over 27 h) and shot-to-shot power variations (2.1%). More importantly, it enables a wavelength sweep rate of ()—orders-of-magnitude faster than the existing swept sources based on mechanical or electrical tuning techniques. BLISS thus represents a practical and new generation of swept source operating in the unmet megahertz swept-rate regime that aligns with the pressing need for scaling the optical bioimaging speed in ultrafast phenomena study or high-throughput screening applications. To showcase its utility in high-speed optical bioimaging, we here employ BLISS for ultrafast time-stretch microscopy and multi-MHz optical coherence tomography of the biological specimen at a single-shot line-scan rate or A-scan rate of 11.5 MHz.
© 2014 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
Xiaoming Wei, Andy K. S. Lau, Yiqing Xu, Kevin K. Tsia, and Kenneth K. Y. Wong
Biomed. Opt. Express 6(10) 3855-3864 (2015)
Jingjiang Xu, Chi Zhang, Jianbing Xu, K. K. Y. Wong, and K. K. Tsia
Opt. Lett. 39(3) 622-625 (2014)
Sisi Tan, Lingxiao Yang, Xiaoming Wei, Can Li, Nan Chen, Kevin K. Tsia, and Kenneth K. Y. Wong
Opt. Lett. 42(8) 1540-1543 (2017)