Beam-shaping random phase mask for holographic storage

The reference beam of a holographic data storage system should have a flat intensity profile to achieve a homogenous illumination of the signal beam inside the recording medium. In systems with a focused reference beam this is usually not the case. We introduce a binary phase mask with beam shaping characteristics that improves the homogeneity of the reference beam in the focal plane. Simulations show a significant improvement of the data page image quality.