A novel surface recovery algorithm in white light interferometry

White-light interferometry (WLI) is an established method for surface measurement. In WLI, surface recovery algorithm from series of vertical scanning white light interferogram is pivotal technique and has been researched widely. However, the effectiveness of existing surface recovery algorithms is easy to be affected by some conditions like mechanical vibrations, low-reflection of the test surface and phase change caused by the reflection. In this paper, a new recovery algorithm is presented, in which correlation analysis of WLI envelop curves and a multi reference position based phase solution method are employed for robust and high precision surface recovery. Mathematical derivation of the algorithm is carried out, and simulation and experimental testing and comparison experiments are conducted, which show that the new algorithm is effective.