Patent ID: 8654343

Claim:
An interference measurement apparatus comprising: at least one light source which generates coherent light; a light splitting section which splits, into a reference light beam and an object light beam, the coherent light emitted from the at least one light source; an image-capturing section which captures an interference image formed by the reference light beam and the object light beam which has reached the image-capturing section via a subject; a polarization splitting section which splits, into two types of object light beams, a first object light beam polarized in a first direction and a second object light beam polarized in a second direction which is different from the first direction, the object light beam emitted from the light splitting section, so that an angular difference is caused between respective propagation directions of the two types of object light beams; and a polarizer array section which allows (i) the reference light beam and (ii) the two types of object light beams which have reached the polarizer array section via the subject to pass through the polarizer array section, the polarizer array section in which a plurality of first polarizer regions and a plurality of second polarizer regions are arranged, the plurality of first polarizer regions having their transmission axes in the first direction and the plurality of second polarizer regions having their transmission axes in the second direction, wherein the image-capturing section which captured the interference image contains (I) a first interference pattern of interference between the first object light beam and a light component of the reference light beam which light component is polarized in the first direction and (II) a second interference pattern of interference between the second object light beam and a light component of the reference light beam which light component is polarized in the second direction, wherein the reference light beam passes through a path to go around the polarization splitting section and the subject.