Two-step phase-shift-interferometry with arbitrary reference waves

The two step phase-shifting interferometry is a challenging technique for many on-axis holographic applications. The significant advantage is the high dynamic and lateral resolution. Practically it is possible to reconstruct the initial complex wave signal with the resolution of the matrix detector (pixel wise). In this contribution we assume an analytical generalization of the two-step-phase-shifting algorithm. The suggested method is similar to the solution of Meng et al.(Opt. Lett. 31(10), 1414-1416, (2006)) but operates with two reference waves arbitrary in phase and amplitude. Because of the complexity of the analytical expressions a graphical method for solving the duality problem is proposed. The simulation of the reconstruction process shows the reliability of the method.