In optics, when a collection of nonlinear processes act together on a pump beam, the resulting spectral broadening of the original pump beam gives rise to a supercontinuum. Supercontinuum sources for optical coherence tomography are of great interest since they provide a broad bandwidth for high resolution and high-power imaging sensitivity. Commercial fiber-based supercontinuum systems use high pump powers to generate a broad bandwidth and customized optical filters to modulate the spectra.
In a report published in Science Advances, we introduced a supercontinuum platform based on a 1 mm silicon nitride photonic chip for optical coherence tomography (OCT). We directly pumped and efficiently generated a supercontinuum near 1300 nm and used the setup to image biological tissues and show the strong imaging performance of the device. The new chip will facilitate portable OCTs and integrated photonics during optical imaging studies.
