Maximum information capacity of a three-dimensional hologram

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