Correction of wave-front retrieval errors caused by the imperfect collimation of reference beam in phase-shifting interferometry

In phase-shifting interferometry (PSI) the standard wave retrieval formulae are usually derived based on the condition of a plane reference beam normal to the recording plane. In practice, however, the reference wave may be a spherical wave of large radius or even have a slight inclination at the same time due to the imperfect collimation and coaxality of the optical system, and this fact will introduce phase distortion for the reconstructed object wave-front. A simple digital processing algorithm without any additional measurements is proposed to determine the unknown parameters of the spherical reference wave and then correct the object wave errors reconstructed with standard wave retrieval formulae. The effectiveness of this method is verified by a series of computer simulations, and its limitation is also discussed.