Overloaded phase-code multiplexing for volume holographic storage

Overloaded phase codes for volume holographic data storage are introduced. In contrast to any previous phase-code design, overloaded phase codes enable multiplexing of a number of data pages that exceeds the number of utilized reference beams. In this way the achievable data capacity can be augmented. Overloaded codes are generated by extending multilevel phase codes based on the discrete Fourier transform. We demonstrate multiplexing of 70 analog pages by means of 64 reference beams. The analysis of reconstructed digital data pages suggests that a capacity gain of up to 15% is reasonable.