MAXIMUM INFORMATION CAPACITY OF A 3-DIMENSIONAL HOLOGRAM

This Letter is devoted to the problem of the maximum information capac ity of a three-dimensional hologram with optimal utilization of the dy namic range of the storage medium. A hologram is treated as an object of information theory. Diffraction-limited holographic writing is anal yzed on the basis of the reciprocal-lattice formalism. The calculation of the information capacity of the three-dimensional hologram is redu ced to analysis of a set of multiplexed holograms each of which posses ses a finite signal/noise ratio determined by the dynamic range of the holographic medium. The optimal number of pages which give the maximu m information capacity with angular multiplexing is found. (C) 1997 Am erican Institute of Physics. [S1063-7850(97)02209-X].