Holographic scattering in an angular-multiplexed hologram on a photopolymer

Holographic scattering (HS) is a phenomenon that occurs when a scattered light wave is recorded on a holographic recording medium and is important for applications using volume holograms, such as holographic data storage, three-dimensional displays, and waveguides for head-mounted displays. We investigated the occurrence mechanism and characteristics of HS occurring in angular-multiplex recording of plane-wave holograms on a photopolymer. First, the reconstruction condition of the hologram formed by scattered light waves during multiplex recording is formulated. Then the diffracted light waves are visualized as the intensity distribution on a virtual screen. Using these results, we proposed a model of the HS-generation mechanism by the superposition of diffracted light waves and self-amplification of hologram reconstruction. The validity of the model is confirmed through experiments, and the diffraction efficiency of HS is measured and discussed.