Quadrature phase-shifting interferometer using spatial carrier

We propose a high-speed phase measurement using a phase calculation algorithm in a quadrature phase-shifting interferometer (QPI), which is applied to tilted fringes. Although the spatial carrier method is useful for a high-speed measurement with a single imaging sensor, the spatial resolution in conventional phase calculation algorithms is reduced owing to the use of three or more phase-shifted data at different sample points. Phases in the QPI method can be calculated with only two quadarture phase-shifted data extracted from the tilted fringes before and after a phase change of the interferometer. Thus, the proposed method can suppress the reduction of the spatial resolution compared with that in conventional methods, and makes it possible to measure a phase at high-speed. The principle and experimental results of this technique are presented.