US Patent 7224867 Holographic spectral filter

Method and apparatus are contemplated for receiving from an input, an optical signal in a volume hologram comprising a transfer function that may comprise temporal or spectral information, and spatial transformation information; diffracting the optical signal; and transmitting the diffracted optical signal to an output. A plurality of inputs and outputs may be coupled to the volume hologram. The transformation may be a linear superposition of transforms, with each transform acting on an input signal or on a component of an input signal. Each transform may act to focus one or more input signals to one or more output ports. A volume hologram may be made by various techniques, and from various materials. A transform function may be calculated by simulating the collision of a design input signal with a design output signal.