Parallel phase-shifting interferometry based on Michelson-like architecture

Abstract

In this paper, we present a new scheme for parallel phase-shifting interferometry that employs a Michelson-like architecture and a simple polarization unit to generate two phase-shifting interferograms with phase shift of π/2 at a single camera exposure. The parallel phase-shifting unit is built with simple optical components, and the distance between the parallel interferograms can be adjusted conveniently. Phase reconstruction is performed by using an algorithm developed for two-step phase-shifting interferometry. The practicability of the proposed configuration and the reconstruction method is demonstrated by experiments.