Quantitative phase imaging by a shearing interferometric module with constant off-axis angle (SICA) module

We report a module employing shearing interferometry with constant off-axis angle (SICA) that works both for coherent light sources and low-coherence light sources, in which the shearing distance in uncoupled to the off-axis angle. In the module, two laterally sheared sample beams are generated by a grating, and the part of the sample area containing no sample details serves as the reference beam, as in any shearing interferometer. However, in our module, the shearing distance can be flexibly adjusted by controlling the axial location of the grating, while the off-axis interference angle remains constant.