Disclosed is method for laser-optical detection of a surface movement of a sample (1), in which a first laser reference beam (10) is superimposed with a first laser measurement beam (12), which is directed towards and reflected by the sample (1), in a first photorefractive/electrooptical element (4). Furthermore, a second reference beam (11), which is identical to the first reference beam (10), is superimposed with a second measurement beam (13), which is identical to the first measurement beam (12), in a second photorefractive/electrooptical element (5). Mutually inverse voltages are applied to the two photorefractive/electrooptical elements (4, 5). The light which emerges from the photo-refractive/electro-optical elements (4, 5) is converted into electrical signals, which are subtracted from each other prior to the signal evaluation. An arrangement for performing the aforementioned method is also disclosed.