Development of an ultra-broadband SLD light source based on multi-wavlengths quantum dots and its application to medical OCT

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25286052
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Crystal engineering
• Research Institution: Wakayama University
• Principal Investigator: Ozaki Nobuhiko 和歌山大学, システム工学部, 准教授 (30344873)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SUGIMOTO Yoshimasa 物質・材料研究機構, 先端ナノフォトニクス材料ユニット, 主席研究員 (60415784)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): AKASAKA Takashi 和歌山県立医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (70322584) ; KUBO Takashi 和歌山県立医科大学, 医学部, 准教授 (30316096)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 量子ドット / 分子線エピタキシー(MBE) / 近赤外広帯域光源 / スーパールミネッセントダイオード(SLD) / 光コヒーレンストモグラフィー(OCT)

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have developed an ultra-broadband SLD light source based on multi-wavelengths quantum dots and applied it to the medical optical coherence tomography (OCT) system. A current-driven light source including four layers of QDs with different emission wavelengths (QD-SLD) exhibits a broadband (85-nm-bandwidth) emission centered at approximately 1.2μm with a Gaussian-like spectral shape at room temperature. Spectral-domain OCT (SD-OCT) using the QD-SLD as a light source was developed and imaging with the SD-OCT was demonstrated. The axial resolution was estimated to be approximately 8 μm in air and no apparent side lobes appeared beside the point spread function, indicating the effectiveness of the QD-SLD for high-resolution, noise-reduced OCT imaging.

Free Research Field

半導体ナノ結晶工学、光応用