Generalized phase-shifting for three-wave shearing interferometry

A generalized phase-shifting method for three-wave shearing interferometry is proposed. The phase-shifting algorithm is derived by an optimal process based on least-squares fitting. With this generalized algorithm, the steps of phase-shifting can be reduced to five, which greatly simplifies the measurement and decreases the burden of computation. Both the numerical simulation and the optical experiment are carried out to demonstrate the adaptability of the method.