Patent ID: 7426037

Claim:
An interferometer comprising: a low coherence light source; a first beam splitter in communication with the light source, wherein the first beam splitter splits light received from the light source into a sample beam and a reference beam; an optical circulator having a first port in communication with the first beam splitter to receive the sample beam, a second port, and a third port, wherein light input to the first port exits the optical circulator from the second port and light entering the second port exits the optical circulator from the third port; an optical fiber in communication with the second port of the optical circulator to convey the sample beam to a sample and convey a reflected sample beam from the sample to the second port of the optical circulator; a diffraction grating in communication with the first beam splitter to receive the reference beam, wherein the diffraction grating diffracts the reference beam into a diffracted reference beam; a second beam splitter in communication with the diffraction grating to receive the diffracted reference beam and in communication with the third port of the optical circulator to receive the reflected sample beam, wherein the second beam splitter combines the diffracted reference beam and the reflected sample beam into a combined beam; and a detector positioned to receive the combined beam.