Algorithm immune to tilt phase-shifting error for phase-shifting interferometers

As a phase shifter usually suffers from both translational and tilt-shift errors during shifting, so every pixel in the same interferogram will have a different phase-shift value. Thus nonlinear phase-measurement errors cannot be avoided, but even translational-shift error has been corrected effectively. However, based on the fact that the shifted phases of all the pixels in the same interferogram remain on the phase-shift plane, by defining this plane one can eliminate a significant number of phase errors. A new algorithm that is immune to both translational- and tilt-shift errors in a phase shifter for phase-stepping interferometers is presented. A first-order Taylor series expansion replaces the nonlinear equations for defining the phase-shift plane, and iteration of the algorithm guarantees its accuracy. Results of a computer simulation show that phase-measurement errors caused by both translation- and tilt-shift error can be compensated for completely, even when the tilt-shift error is not more than ±1%. © 2000 Optical Society of America.