DIGITAL HOLOGRAPHIC STORAGE-SYSTEM INCORPORATING THERMAL FIXING IN LITHIUM-NIOBATE

We describe a digital holographic data storage system that uses in sit u thermal fixing to achieve nonvolatile readout. The system was used t o store and fix 530 holograms representing 1.7 MB of digital data. The system demonstrates that fixing by heating after recording gives adeq uate performance for multiplex holography in the perpendicular recordi ng geometry. The postrecording heating procedure is preferred over hig h-temperature recording in the perpendicular geometry to achieve Bragg matching for the entire signal angular bandwidth. (C) 1996 Optical So ciety of America