Representations of space-variant optical systems using volume holograms.

A technique is described for recording representations of space-variant optical systems as volume holograms. The transfer-function holographic representations obtained are then placed in the Fourier plane of a coherent optical processor for playback. Due to the space-variant nature of the systems represented, the input plane of the system to be represented holographically is spatially sampled. As a result, the volume hologram medium actually contains a number of holograms that have been angle multiplexed to avoid interference problems. Limitations associated with the thickness of the recording medium are calculated for imaging systems, and experimental results are presented for one lens and two lens magnifiers.