Analysis of diffracted image patterns from volume holographic imaging systems and applications to image processing.

Diffracted image patterns from volume holograms that are used in volume holographic imaging systems (VHISs) are investigated. It is shown that, in VHISs, prior information about the shape and spectral properties of the diffracted patterns is important not only to determine the curvature and field of view of the image, but also for image registration and noise removal. A new methodology to study numerically and analytically the dependence of VHIS diffraction patterns with the hologram construction parameters and the readout wavelength is described. Modeling and experimental results demonstrate that, in most cases, VHIS diffracted shapes can be accurately represented by hyperbolas.