Spectral measurement of absorption by spectroscopic frequency-domain optical coherence tomography

A new method of measurement that essentially combines Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography with spectroscopy is introduced. By use of a windowed Fourier transform it is possible to obtain, in addition to the object structure, spectroscopic information such as the absorption properties of materials. The feasibility of this new method for performing depth-resolved spectroscopy is demonstrated with a glass filter plate. The results are compared with theoretically calculated spectra by use of the well-known spectral characteristics of the light source and the filter plate. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America.