New algorithms and error analysis for sinusoidal phase shifting interferometry

An alternative to the conventional linear phase shift in optical testing interferometers is a sinusoidal phase shift, which has the benefit of relaxing requirements on the phase-shifting mechanism. We propose error-compensating phasedemodulation algorithms and provide a new, comprehensive sensitivity analyses to random noise, nonlinearity, vibrations and calibration error to demonstrate that sinusoidal phase shifting can be as robust and computationally efficient as the more established linear phase-shift techniques.