Supercontinuum generation for optical coherence tomography using magnesium fluoride photonic crystal fiber

Supercontinuum (SC) in visible and near-infrared regions is used as a source for optical coherence tomography (OCT) method to measure vascular oxygen saturation in retinal and choroidal circulations. To generate SC in these regions, we first study magnesium fluoride (MgF2) solid core photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) with submicron air-holes. Then by varying the air-holes diameter we engineer the dispersion and nonlinear parameters as desired. We demonstrate by launching input pulses with center wavelengths of 532 and 640 nm into an engineered PCF, supercontinua as wide as 530 and 580 nm can be obtained that cover the entire visible range and a part of near infrared region making it a suitable source for both white-light and OCT applications.