Light diffraction from the volume holograms in electrooptic birefringent crystals

Angular bandwidth of the image reconstructed from the volume phase hologram at a wavelength different from that of the recording beams has been analysed. An optimum holographic scheme on the basis of anisotropic diffraction uniting maximum bandwidth of the Gabor's scheme and advantages of the Leith-Upatnieks scheme has been proposed for non-destructive readout of the volume hologram in birefringent photorefractive crystals. The main results of the theoretical analysis leading to the optimum holographic arrangement for electrically controlled retrieval of information from the volume of the electrooptic crystal are presented. Demonstrating experiments has been performed with LiNbO₃: Fe crystals.