Three-dimensional image realization in interference microscopy.

We describe an efficient algorithm based on the Hilbert transform for reconstructing cross-sectional or three-dimensional images from the input images acquired by an interference microscope. First the design of this filter is presented, and cross-sectional images of an integrated circuit constructed with this algorithm are demonstrated. It is shown that this Hilbert transform algorithm can be easily implemented with a low-cost frame grabber so that the computation time required for image reconstruction is drastically reduced.