Dispersion compensation technique for evident chromatic anomalies in ultrafast optical interferometry

With the expanding utility of ultrafast sources for interferometric techniques like optical coherence tomography (OCT), we present a Dispersion Compensation Technique for Evident Chromatic Anomalies (DISCOTECA) as a universal solution to correct dispersion mismatch. We report a chromatic anomaly in the propagation of an ultrafast pulse through an interferometer beyond lower-order dispersions that worsens the axial resolution and causes image artifacts. We demonstrate the origin of these artifacts, explain our algorithm for the piecewise reconstruction and correction of the phase mismatch, and present a decision-making guide for interferometry with ultrashort sources. DISCOTECA corrects the artifacts from using ultrashort sources in OCT.