Superparallel holographic correlator for ultrafast database searches

We describe a superparallel holographic optical correlator that performs two-dimensional spatial and angular multiplexing simultaneously. The key step in this architecture is the use of a holographic multiplexer to split a query image into many copies before it applies them to the holographic database. A holographic demultiplexer, in conjunction with an aperture, is used to identify the location and the angle of the brightest correlation peak. This architecture uses only O(√N) detector elements to search through N unsorted images in a single query. We demonstrate the basic features of this architecture, using three spatial locations with eight angle-multiplexed images in each location.