I saw that some setups have a focusing lens in the reference arm to focus on the mirror in the reference arm, but I cannot find the reason why we would do that!? Does it allow us to use less power in the ref. arm? Does it increase the image quality?
Thanks in advance for your help!
For retinal imaging, the lens in the reference arm compensates for the optical power of the eye itself, e.g. the front surface of the cornea and the lens.
-- Bob
It is in general easier to align the reference mirror if the reference beams is not collimating. Furthermore, dispersion compensation is an important aspect.
I agree with Niels König, it is easier to perform alignment with a converging lens. As for dispersion compensation, that means that you must have the same optical pathlength in your sample arm and in your reference arm. You achieve this by adding glass in one of the arms, usually the reference arm. You can read more about dispersion compensation in my dissertation.
Thesis Functional Connectivity Of The Rodent Brain Using Optical Imaging
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