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An interferometric method to measure the slope of phase objects is presented. The analysis was performed by implementing a polarizing phase-shifting cyclic shear interferometer coupled to a 4-f Fourier imaging system with crossed high-frequency Ronchi gratings. This system can obtain nine interference patterns with adjustable phase shifts and variable lateral shear. In order to extract the slope of a phase object, it is only analyzed using four patterns obtained in a single shot, and applying the classical method of phase extraction.

In this work, we present a new method to reduce the shot noise in phase imaging of digital holograms. A spatial averaging process of phase images reconstructed at different reconstruction distances is performed, with the reconstruction distance range being specified by the numerical focus depth of the optical system. An improved phase image is attained with a 50% shot noise reduction. We use the integral of the angular spectrum as a reconstruction method to obtain a single-object complex amplitude that is needed to perform our proposal. We also show the corresponding simulations and experimental results. The topography of a homemade TiO2 stepwise of 100 nm high was measured and compared with the atomic force microscope results.

Two methods to measure the diffusion coefficient of a species in a liquid by optical interferometry were compared. The methods were tested on a 1.75 M NaCl aqueous solution diffusing into water at 26 °C. Results were D = 1.587 × 10−9 m2 s−1 with the first method and D = 1.602 × 10−9 m2 s−1 with the second method. Monte Carlo simulation was used to assess the possible dispersion of these results. The standard uncertainties were found to be of the order of 0.05 × 10−9 m2 s−1 with both methods. We found that the value of the diffusion coefficient obtained by either method is very sensitive to the magnification of the optical system, and that if diffusion is slow the measurement of time does not need to be very accurate.

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This work focuses on the implementation of a structured light projection technique for the analysis of the 3D vibration modes of microsamples. The Talbot image of a Ronchi grating is projected onto the sample surface passing through one of the objective tube of a stereomicroscope thus realising a fringe projection system at a micrometric scale. An aluminium cantilever beam PZTdriven into harmonic vibration served as test sample for investigating the possibility to get the fullfield vibration modes of micro-objects. An automated Fourier transform analysis of the fringe patterns was performed to obtain the full-field time-resolved profile information of the sample at each frame delivered by a high-speed camera with a micrometric resolution. A straightforward procedure for retrieving resonance frequency for different modes and vibration amplitudes along the whole sample surface was implemented. The great sensitivity and the full-field capacities of the proposed experimental procedure allow to put in evidence differences between real and theoretical behaviours hence could be extremely useful for designing and testing structural dynamic response of microstructures and micro-electro-mechanical Systems.

We have sampled both the downwelling and upwelling radiance distributions at a camp located in the southern Ellsworth Mountains on the broad expanse of Union Glacier (700 m altitude, 79° 46' S, 82° 52' W). The measurements (at 320-440 nm wavelength range) were carried out under cloudless conditions by using a sky scanner system, during a campaign (in December, 2012) meant to assess the effects of the high albedo on the radiance distribution. The angular variations observed in both the downwelling and upwelling radiance distributions increase with the wavelength. However, these variations were considerably greater in the case of the downwelling radiance than in the case of the upwelling radiance. Indeed, we found that downwelling radiance tends to be less isotropic than the corresponding upwelling radiance. Regardless of the solar zenith angle and the wavelength, the minima of the downwelling and the upwelling radiance distributions were measured close to the zenith and to the nadir, respectively. The downwelling (upwelling) radiance increased nearly monotonically toward the horizon and peaked at zenith (nadir) angles that ranged from 75° to 90°. Comparisons with the UVSPEC radiative transfer model were used to weight up the response of the downwelling radiance distribution to changes in the albedo.