High-resolution frequency-domain second-harmonic optical coherence tomography.

We used continuum generated in an 8.5 cm long fiber by a femtosecond Yb fiber laser to improve threefold the axial resolution of frequency domain second-harmonic optical coherence tomography (SH-OCT) to 12 microm. The acquisition time was shortened by more than 2 orders of magnitude compared to the time-domain SH-OCT. The system was applied to image biological tissue of fish scales, pig leg tendon, and rabbit eye sclera. Highly organized collagen fibrils can be visualized in the recorded images. Polarization dependence on the SH has been used to obtain polarization resolved images.