Phase-shifting interferometry based on induced vibrations.

The presence of uncontrolled mechanical vibrations is typically the main precision-limiting factor of a phase-shifting interferometer. We present a method that instead of trying to insolate vibrations; it takes advantage of their presence to produce the different phase-steps. The method is based on spatial and time domain processing techniques to compute first the different unknown phase-steps and then reconstruct the phase from these tilt-shifted interferograms. In order to compensate the camera movement, it is needed to perform an affine registration process between the different interferograms. Simulated and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique without the use of any phase-shifter device.