Performance analysis of low-coherence interferometry, taking into consideration optical beat noise

Abstract

An extensive study for the optical beat noise in low-coherence two-beam interferometry under uniform spectrum illumination is presented. A new formula for the beat noise is derived. The analytical formulas for the signal-to-noise ratio and the resolution in the detection of small phase change and absolute optical path length are given. The effects of the beat noise on the achievable sensing performances in real sensing systems are numerically evaluated and discussed. The sensing performances are improved by use of a wider optical bandwidth of the illuminating light.

© 2005 Optical Society of America

High-performance fiber-optic temperature sensor using low-coherence interferometry

Han-Sun Choi, Henry F. Taylor, and Chung E. Lee
Opt. Lett. 22(23) 1814-1816 (1997)

Noise characterization of supercontinuum sources for low-coherence interferometry applications

William J. Brown, Sanghoon Kim, and Adam Wax
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 31(12) 2703-2710 (2014)

Signal-to-noise ratio analysis of all-fiber common-path optical coherence tomography

Xiaolu Li, Jae-Ho Han, Xuan Liu, and Jin U. Kang
Appl. Opt. 47(27) 4833-4840 (2008)

Random depth access full-field heterodyne low-coherence interferometry utilizing acousto-optic modulation and a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor camera

Patrick Egan, Michael J. Connelly, Fereydoun Lakestani, and Maurice P. Whelan
Opt. Lett. 31(7) 912-914 (2006)

Correlated speckle noise in white-light interferometry: theoretical analysis of measurement uncertainty

Marco Hering, Klaus Körner, and Bernd Jähne
Appl. Opt. 48(3) 525-538 (2009)