Low-spatial-coherence high-radiance broadband fiber source for speckle free imaging

Opt Lett. 2015 Oct 15;40(20):4607-10. doi: 10.1364/OL.40.004607.

Abstract

We design and demonstrate a fiber-based amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) source with low spatial coherence, low temporal coherence, and high power per mode. ASE is produced by optically pumping a large gain core multimode fiber while minimizing optical feedback to avoid lasing. The fiber ASE source provides 270 mW of continuous wave emission, centered at λ=1055 nm, with a full width at half-maximum bandwidth of 74 nm. The emission is distributed among as many as ∼70 spatial modes, enabling efficient speckle suppression when combined with spectral compounding. Finally, we demonstrate speckle-free full-field imaging using the fiber ASE source. The fiber ASE source provides a unique combination of high power per mode with both low spatial and low temporal coherence, making it an ideal source for full-field imaging and ranging applications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Optical Fibers*
  • Optical Imaging / instrumentation*