Broadband Ce/Cr-doped crystal fibers for high axial resolution OCT light source

Opt Express. 2015 Nov 16;23(23):29723-8. doi: 10.1364/OE.23.029723.

Abstract

The fabrication and characteristics of Ce/Cr-doped crystal fibers employing drawing tower technique are reported. The fluorescence spectrum of the Ce/Cr fibers at the core diameter ranging from 10 to 21 µm exhibited a 200-nm near-Gaussian broadband emission which enabled to provide an axial resolution of 1.8-μm and a power density of 79.1 nW/nm. The proposed broadband Ce/Cr-doped crystal fibers may be provided as a high-resolution light source for the use in optical coherence tomography system as well as industrial inspection and biomedical imaging applications.