OCT Component

Mach-Zehnder Interferometer K-Clock Box

The KCLK Series k-Clock Box is a timing device for swept-source Optical Coherence Tomography, designed to linearize the sampling of interferometric signals in k-space (𝑘=2𝜋/𝜆) rather than time or wavelength. It uses a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) with a fixed optical path difference (OPD) to generate zero crossings at uniform k-intervals, which are converted into digital pulses that trigger the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for precise, k-linear data acquisition. The unit includes a fiber coupler network that provides both the k-clock and a power monitor signal to track laser output power and wavelength, with low polarization sensitivity. The spacing between k-clock pulses is determined by the MZI’s OPD, with larger OPD yielding higher clock frequencies and denser sampling.