Multiple-step triangular-pattern phase shifting and the influence of number of steps and pitch on measurement accuracy

We present new extensions of the two-step, triangular-pattern phase-shifting method for different numbers of phase-shifting steps to increase measurement accuracy and to analyze the influence of the number of phase-shifting steps and pitch of the projected triangular intensity-profile pattern on the measurement accuracy. Phase-shifting algorithms to generate the intensity ratio, essential for surface reconstruction, were developed for each measurement method. Experiments determined that higher measurement accuracy can be obtained with a greater number of phase-shifting steps and a lower value of pitch, as long as the pitch is appropriately selected to be divisible by the number of phase-shifting steps and not below an optimal value, where intensity-ratio unwrapping failure would occur. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.