Parallel three-step phase-shifting digital holography

We propose parallel three-step phase-shifting digital holography as a technique capable of noiseless instantaneous measurement of three-dimensional objects based on phase-shifting interferometry. The proposed digital holography carries out three-step phase shifting at the same time by using a phase-shifting array device located in the reference beam. The array device has a periodic three-step phase distribution, and its configuration is simplified compared with that required for conventional parallel phase-shifting digital holography. Therefore the optical system of the proposed parallel phase-shifting digital holography is more suitable for the realization of the proposed holography. We conduct both a numerical simulation and a preliminary experiment. The results of the simulation and experiment agree well with those of the conventional phase-shifting method and are superior to the results obtained by conventional digital holography by using the Fresnel transform alone. Thus the effectiveness of the proposed technique is verified. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.