Michelson lateral shearing interference microscopy for quantitative phase measurement

A kind of Michelson lateral shearing interference microscopy is demonstrated for quantitative phase measurement of biological cell. For this microscopy, two common right angle prisms are in place of the two mirrors of traditional Michelson interferometer. By rotating one right angle prism around its ridge, the lateral shear is created and then the interference occurs in the overlap between the original wavefront and the sheared wavefront. Changing the angle of rotation or simultaneously rotating another right angle prism, the amount of shear can be adjusted freely. Successfully quantitative phase measurement of paramecium shows the effectiveness of our proposed method.