Influence of the nonlinearity of photographic materials in three-beam polarization holography

A statistical approach is employed in an analysis of the nonlinear recording and reconstruction of the polarization of optical radiation using amplitude holograms. It is shown that the reconstruction of the initial polarization state depends essentially on the nonlinear properties of the recording medium. Depending on the choice of the operating point on the transfer characteristic, one can observe a phenomenon equivalent to the suppression or amplification of a weak signal by a strong signal in nonlinear devices, which may appear in both polarization and conventional holographic systems. Experimental results are given of the recording of polarization holograms on photographic emulsion films in linear and nonlinear cases and these are in good agreement with the theory.