HIGH SPEED OPTICAL RETARDATION GENERATING METHOD AND ITS HIGH SPEED OPTICAL RETARDATION GENERATOR BY MOVEMENT OF TRANSLUCENT BODY IN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high speed optical retardation generating method and its high speed optical retardation generator by movement of a translucent body in optical coherence tomography, capable of setting a long scanning distance in a depth direction (a Z direction) of an optical axis in object light. SOLUTION: The high speed optical retardation generator is provided with a low coherence light source 1, a half mirror 2 bisecting light from the low coherence light source 1 into the object light to an object A to be inspected and reference light, a moving device 11 of transparent glass used as an optical retardation mechanism arranged with the rapidly oscillating or rapidly rotating translucent body (the transparent glass) transmitting the reference light, a fixed reflection mirror 12 reflectively returning the reference light from the moving device 11 of the transparent glass, the half mirror 2 multiplexing the object light returning from the object A to be inspected and the reference light returning from the moving device 11 of the transparent glass, and a photodetector 13 detecting coherent light including a heterodyne coherent beat signal multiplexed by the half mirror 2.