Fine tuning of a photonic band-gap with picosecond laser pulses

We report on light-driven tuning of the optical properties of colloidal photonic crystals (polystyrene opals) doped with gold nanoparticles (Au-np). Using picosecond pulses at 532 nm we obtained permanent changes in the stop band around 1700 nm, with resonance blue shifts as large as 30 nm.