Subpicosecond optical switching in polystyrene opal

Abstract

An ultrafast all-optical switching is demonstrated in an organic three-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystal with a response time as short as 120 fs. The operating wavelength of the optical switching is in the visible spectrum. The switching function is realized by a shift of the photonic band gap under optical pumping. It is found that the photonic band gap shifts about 10 nm with the excitation of 27.5GW∕cm2 pump laser.