Design of error-compensating algorithms for sinusoidal phase shifting interferometry.

An improved approach to interferometry using sinusoidal phase shifting balances several harmonic components in the interference signal against each other. The resulting computationally efficient phase-estimation algorithms have low sensitivity to errors such as spurious intensity noise, vibration, and errors in the phase shift pattern. Specific example algorithms employing 8 and 12 camera frames illustrate design principles that are extendable to algorithms of any length for applications that would benefit from a simplified, sinusoidal phase shift.