Temporal phase processing with compression in interferometry

Abstract

Interferometry is increasingly used in transient phenomena studies. Temporal fringe pattern analysis is ideal for this form of study but necessitates large data storage. Current compression schemes do not facilitate efficient data retrieval and may even result in important data loss. Here, we describe an encoding scheme that results in low crucial data loss and performs temporal fringe analysis at the same time. From the encoded data, intensity fringe patterns and phase maps can be retrieved with ease. The scheme is demonstrated here with simulated wavefront interferometry temporal fringe patterns albeit it portends usage in other forms of fringe-based techniques as well.