Patent ID: 7680379

Claim:
An optical coherence tomography appliance comprising: a light source which has a broadband spectrum, said light source comprising: a laser diode for generating a short light pulse of wavelength λ p ; a microstructured optical fiber having a zero dispersion of the group velocity in the vicinity of the wavelength λ p and an anomalous dispersion; means for directing the short light pulse from the laser diode into the microstructured optical fiber; and means for measuring an optical coherence tomography of a material or structure, based on the short light pulse received by the microstructured optical fiber, wherein the microstructured optical fiber comprises a nonlinear optical material having at least one material selected from the group consisting of a multicomponent glass-ceramic, an oxidic multicomponent glass-ceramic, a nonlinear optical material made from a single-crystal material, a polycrystalline material, a liquid-crystal material, and a heavy flint glass, and wherein the heavy flint glass comprises SiO 2 and PbO and at least one further component selected from the group consisting of: Al 2 O 3 , B 2 O 3 , TiO 2 , ThO 2 , La 2 O 3 , BaO, Li 2 O, Na 2 O, and K 2 O.