Design of high-numerical-aperture Fourier objectives for holographic memory card writing/reading equipment

A pair of special Fourier transforming objectives intended for use in a Holographic Memory Card (HMC) writing/reading equipment have been designed and fabricated. At writing in, the objective Fourier transform a binary pattern, representing the data displayed by an SLM, into the storage medium of the HMC, where the Fourier transform is recorded as a polarization hologram. At reading out, the objectives inverse Fourier transform the reconstructed hologram onto the surface of a CCD array. The Fourier space NA of the objectives is high enough to achieve a theoretical data density of 1 bit/μm2. For comparison reasons we designed two optically identical objectives of basically different structures: one is an aspheric glass doublet, the other is an all-spherical five-element system (arranged in two lens groups). Computer analysis of the objectives shows that both systems are diffraction limited in object and Fourier space and have a distortion of less than 1%. In this paper we overview the theory of Fourier objectives, present our design method, describe the optical behavior of the designed systems, show our test results performed on the fabricated aspheric objective and present our experiences at manufacturing aspheric glass lens prototypes.