We have analyzed the lateral sensitivity of volume holograms based on random phase encoding. The diffraction characteristics are associated with induced two-dimensional destructive interference when the random phase plate, e.g. a ground glass, is laterally shifted. The random phase plate generates the first dimension of destructive interference, and the finite size of the hologram generates the second dimension of destructive interference. The former and the latter are responsible for the random phase multiplexing and the shift multiplexing of holographic storage, respectively. The developed analysis can be used to describe the shifting sensitivity of the hologram based on both random phase multiplexing and shift multiplexing.
