Improved white-light interferometry on rough surfaces by statistically independent speckle patterns

White-light interferometry (WLI) on rough surfaces is based on interference from individual speckles. The measurement uncertainty of WLI is limited by a random shift of these individual interference patterns. The statistical error in each measurement point depends on the brightness of the corresponding speckle: a dark speckle yields a larger error than a bright speckle. In this paper, a novel method is presented to reduce the measurement uncertainty significantly: by sequentially switching the direction of the illumination, the camera sees several independent speckle patterns in sequence. From each pattern, the brightest speckles are selected to eventually calculate an accurate height map. This height map displays no outliers, and the measured surface roughness is close to the stylus measurements.