All-optical neural-net like image processing with local and nonlocal nonlinear optical thin films

The equivalence of all-optical image processing using local and nonlocal optical nonlinearities of nematic liquid crystal to neural net-like processing operations is demonstrated. Recently discovered supra-nonlinear liquid crystalline films allow such processing with practical power threshold; the photosensitivity and transparency of film allow integration of the sensor/processor and image display function to be integrated on a single film.