Coaxial polarization holographic data recording on a polarization-sensitive medium

A coaxial polarization holographic data recording is proposed, and a proof-of-principle experiment is demonstrated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. A proposed recording system allows us to record and retrieve a volume polarization hologram using a simple optical setup, as compared with conventional polarization holographic data storage systems. By using the proposed system, the data pages encoded on horizontal and vertical linearly polarized beams were simultaneously recorded, and each data page was successfully retrieved without any error. Moreover, the effectiveness of a random phase mask was experimentally and quantitatively confirmed in polarization holographic data storage.