Spectrally Encoded Confocal Microscopy at 1.9 mu \text{m}

Abstract

We demonstrate a spectrally encoded confocal microscopy system using a wideband supercontinuum source at a central wavelength of 1870 nm over a bandwidth of 180 nm. It is illustrated to achieve a better depth of field (DOF) and penetration depth at 1.9 μm, compared with the 1.5-μm spectral window when using the same experimental setup. Our scheme shows the potential of optical source operating ~2-μm wavelength range to be applied in other established imaging modalities, such as time-stretch imaging for the imaging of highly scattering materials with a large depth range, where a large DOF and penetration depth are required.