Accuracy of phase-shifting interferometry: phase-shifter calibration and error compensation

摘要

The accuracy of phase shifting interferometers is impaired by mechanical drifts and vibrations, intensity variations, nonlinearities of the photoelectric detection device, and, most seriously, by inaccuracies of the reference phase shifter. This paper presents a new method to correct the phase shifter by using an iterative process relying on the carrier fringes and the Fourier transform algorithm to analyze the carrier fringes. The phase shifter inaccuracies can be displayed by a special Lissajous display technique.