DIFFRACTION EFFICIENCY AND SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO OF MULTIPLEXED VOLUME PHASE HOLOGRAMS RECORDED IN A PHOTOGRAPHIC-EMULSION

The problems related to noise that arise during recording and reconstr uction of holograms used in optical data storage or in massive optical interconnection systems are quite similar and can be analyzed in orde r to improve the quality of the images that these optical systems prov ide. In this paper, we will analyze noise in cases in which several co herent object waves are simultaneously stored in a phase recording mat erial in a way that allows us to obtain information about the relation ship that exists between the recording material and the number of wave s that are being stored. The material used in this study is Agfa Gevae rt 8E75 HD holographic film processed with a rehalogenating-type bleac h bath without a fixation step. Additionally, we show experimentally t hat it is possible to holographically store more than 400 waves at the same time (in a coherent fashion) using the same storage geometry, wi th a signal-to-noise ratio larger than 20 and an average diffraction e fficiency of 15%.