Patent ID: 8392138

Claim:
A swept wavelength interferometer system, comprising: an electromagnetic radiation source for directing incident electromagnetic radiation over a range of wavelengths to a splitter, wherein the splitter routes a portion of the incident electromagnetic radiation along a first radiation path and another portion of the incident electromagnetic radiation is routed along a second radiation path; a first interferometer coupled to the splitter along the first path, wherein a first detector measures one or more characteristics of the incident electromagnetic energy along the first radiation path; a second interferometer coupled to the splitter along the second path, wherein a second detector measures one or more characteristics of the incident electromagnetic radiation along the second radiation path, wherein the first detector provides a trigger signal used to sample electromagnetic radiation detected by the second detector; and a delay element selectively coupled along the first radiation path or the second radiation path to correct sampling errors based at least in part on a differential delay associated with the electromagnetic radiation traversing the first radiation path and the second radiation path.