Abstract: The present invention provides an amplified spontaneous emission fiber optic source having high optical power (>20 mW) and a spectral broadband emission (>70 nm) centered near a wavelength of 1060 nm. In an embodiment of the invention, the fiber source comprises a combination of Yb-doped and Nd-doped silica fibers in a dual-pumping configuration. The Yb-doped optical fiber has a peak absorption coefficient of 350 dB/nm at 977 nm band, and the Nd-doped fiber used has a dopant concentration of 500 ppm-wt in a glass host of aluminum-germano-phospho-silicate. A combination of these two doped-fibers along with optical spectral filtering provides a broadband spectrum giving coherence length <7 ?m (in air), which is well suited for optical coherence imaging.

Abstract: The present invention provides a swept fiber optic laser source for optical coherence tomography emitting around ˜1060 nm wavelength, with tuning range higher than 50 nm, sweep repetition rate from DC to 40 kHz, instantaneous linewidth shorter than 50 pm (FWHM), and providing an average output around 1 mW (or 20 mW with output optical booster amplifier). The fiber laser source is based on a proper linear-cavity fiber laser configuration, with an intra-cavity half-symmetrical confocal Fabry-Perot tunable fiber (FP-TFF) filter and semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), a device combination that gives a very robust and vibration-resistant laser configuration.

Abstract: The present invention provides an amplified spontaneous emission fiber optic source having high optical power (>20 mW) and a spectral broadband emission (>70 nm) centered near a wavelength of 1060 nm. In an embodiment of the invention, the fiber source comprises a combination of Yb-doped and Nd-doped silica fibers in a dual-pumping configuration. The Yb-doped optical fiber has a peak absorption coefficient of 350 dB/nm at 977 nm band, and the Nd-doped fiber used has a dopant concentration of 500 ppm-wt in a glass host of aluminum-germano-phospho-silicate. A combination of these two doped-fibers along with optical spectral filtering provides a broadband spectrum giving coherence length <7 ?m (in air), which is well suited for optical coherence imaging.