Automatic analysis of interference fringes

It can be seen from the preceding chapters that interferometry is one of the successes of applied optics. As well as being a fruitful topic of academic research, interferometric methods have made important contributions to optical testing(Malacara, 1978), the medical sciences(van Bally, 1979) and several branches of engineering(Erf, 1974; Theocaris, 1969). In many spheres of application. interferometric results must be expressed in such a way that non-specialists can comprehend them or in such a way that they may be combined with other, non-interferometric, measurements. In such cases, interferograms must be analysed so that the results can be presented in the required numerical or graphical form.