To obtain a method and a device to conduct multivalued recording within one diffraction pattern region in lieu of the conventional recording in which light beams are converged, an optical storage element surface is irradiated with the converged light beams, various physical characteristics are varied using a single diffraction pattern to change them to the reflectivity and the rotation of the polarization surface for the recording.

A spatial filter 2 having plural fixed or variable openings is arranged on an optical axis 3 of a coherent light 1. Then, the recording material, on which photofilm, optical phase change, photosensitive pigment or magnetooptical medium are arranged on a flat surface or a curved surface shape, is cross irradiated by the coherent light 5 and 6, interference is made on a recording surface 7, the interference pattern 8 is recorded, the respective positional relationship of the plural effective openings of the filter and the phase differences at the openings, if required are changed by, for example, exchanging the filter group, operating the various active optical elements using polarization, rotting the polarization surface, and varying the transmissivity through the elements. While converging the beams by the optical system, recorded data are recorded into the data having plural values, i.e., multivalued data by the number of interference fringes and the process is reduced and the speed is improved.