Phase extraction from electronic speckle pattern interferometry addition fringes

Addition fringes are obtained in real time from electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) by use of a twin-pulsed laser when two pulses are fired during a single field of a CCD camera. This enables object deformations to be studied in harsh environmental conditions. However, the fringe patterns have poor visibility because optical noise is additive. To our knowledge automatic phase extraction from addition fringes has not previously been achieved: Low-pass filtering to suppress random speckle noise also eliminates the fringes because of their low visibility. Two phase-stepping algorithms that calculate phase from ESPI fringes without the need for a preprocessing filter are presented. In the first ESPI subtraction fringes are considered, for which an improvement in accuracy is seen, and in the second ESPI addition fringes are considered, which, we believe, has enabled the phase to be extracted for the first time. The algorithms are demonstrated with theoretical data and with experimental ESPI fringepatterns recorded with a cw laser. As presented, they form the first step toward a procedure that can beused with twin-pulsed ESPI.