Video-rate fringe analyzer based on phase-shifting electronic moire patterns

We have developed a fringe analyzer that delivers the phase distribution at a video rate from a fringe pattern containing a spatial carrier. It is based on parallel generations of three phase-shifted moire patterns through electronic multiplication with computer-generated reference gratings and low-pass filtering. The phase distribution is derived by the subsequent parallel processing of these patterns on the basis of a three-step phase-shifting algorithm. By modification of the bias phase distribution of the reference gratings, several functions, such as correction of an initial wave-front error, are realized in real time. The usefulness of this analyzer is demonstrated experimentally for phase measurements by grating-projection surface topography and interferometry. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.