DATA STORAGE IN A DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL ELEMENT

摘要

A diffractive optical element (DOE) and various methods of producing such a DOE are provided in which a diffractive optical microstructure is formed with encrypted data on at least one side of a transparent substrate or in a layer applied to the substrate. The diffractive optical microstructure when illuminated with collimated light, generates a far field interference pattern corresponding to the encrypted data which may be decrypted with suitable optical detectors and processing equipment.