Fast optical computerized topography

The topography of samples is recovered from the phase reconstruction by solving the Transport Intensity Equation (TIE). The TIE is solved by expanding the equation into a series of Zernike polynomials, leading to a set of appropriate algebraic equations. In the experiments laser light was used and the illuminated region defined the boundary conditions on the target. The phase was uniquely reconstructed and the geometry of the target was calculated. The novel technique has been successfully tested on a transparent phase plate as well as on a gold coated one. Using this technique with illumination of a short laser pulse makes it well suited for reconstructing surfaces of moving objects.