Linear systems theory for the analysis of phase-shifting algorithms

Abstract

Phase-shifting algorithms are methods used for recovering the modulating phase of an interferogram sequence obtained by Phase Stepping Interferometry (PSI) techniques. Typically, the number of interferograms in a PSI sequence is from 3 to around 9 interferograms, although we can find algorithms that works with more than 9 interferograms. In this paper, we are going to show the analysis and design of phase-shifting algorithms from the point of view of the linear systems paradigm from digital signal processing. We will show how this paradigm describes in a general fashion the phase-shifting algorithm systems, and how we can easily design tunable phase-shifting algorithms using this simple scheme.