Computer aided evaluation of interferograms

A semi-automatic technique is presented for obtaining the density field from interferograms provided by a Mach-Zehnder setup in infinite fringe width adjustment using short exposure times. The algorithm relies on extracting the fringe edges from the original image and then numbering the resulting polygons according to their order of interference using a graphical editor. The density field is then interpolated between the polygons by calculating its value from the intensity in the original interferogram. This results in highly accurate, high resolution scalar data fields. The results may then be presented in a quasi three-dimensional form using a shading model.