Pulse driven switching in one-dimensional nonlinear photonic band gap   materials: a numerical study
  We examine numerically the time-dependent properties of nonlinear bistable multilayer structures for constant wave illumination. We find that our system exhibits both steady-state and self-pulsing solutions. In the steady state regime, we examine the dynamics of driving the system between different transmission states by injecting pulses, and we find the optimal pulse parameters. We repeat this work for the case of a linear periodic system with a nonlinear impurity layer. 
E. Lidorikis and C.M. Soukoulis (Ames Laboratory and Iowa State   University)