Abstract

Holographic volume data storage has long been an intriguing subject of research interest. The main reason for this interest is the promise of enormous data storage capacities. In a long volume, storage of 1012 bits or more is possible using visible light (1). However, to date, all attempts at attaining and demonstrating a volume holographic data storage system of this density have fallen far short of this theoretical limit (2-6). Although materials limitations contributed to this shortcoming, of more fundamental importance, however, were the problems associated with the angular multiplexing schemes used to holographically access the volume of the storage medium (7-9).

© 1991 Optical Society of America