- Open Access
Signatures of three-dimensional photoinduced superconductivity in
Phys. Rev. B 112, 214522 – Published 30 December, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/2m3d-s3j9
Abstract
Optical excitation of large-amplitude apical oxygen phonon oscillations has been shown to renormalize the electronic properties of , inducing a superconducting-like optical response above equilibrium . All of the evidence collected so far has been based on the changes of the terahertz frequency -axis response. In these measurements, the capacitive interlayer coupling was seen to transform into a superconducting-like inductive response. This assignment was strengthened by recent measurements of ultrafast magnetic field expulsion. Here, we report an experimental determination of the transient in-plane optical properties, which has so far been elusive due to the high equilibrium reflectivity and the need to evaluate minute changes in the optical response. We report the appearance of a photoinduced in-plane optical gap and a divergent imaginary conductivity, both consistent with photoinduced superconductivity. A global fit to these data suggests that in- and out-of-plane electronic properties never completely equilibrate during the dynamics.
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Article Text
Supplemental Material
References (43)
- D. N. Basov and T. Timusk, Electrodynamics of high- superconductors, Rev. Mod. Phys. 77, 721 (2005).
- C. C. Homes, T. Timusk, D. A. Bonn, R. Liang, and W. N. Hardy, Optical properties along the -axis of , for . Evolution of the pseudogap, Physica C 254, 265 (1995).
- C. C. Homes, T. Timusk, D. A. Bonn, R. Liang, and W. N. Hardy, Optical phonons polarized along the axis of , for , Can. J. Phys. 73, 663 (1995).
- D. N. Basov, S. I.Woods, A. S. Katz, E. J. Singley, R. C. Dynes, M. Xu, D. G. Hinks, C. C. Homes, and M. Strongin, Sum rules and interlayer conductivity of high- cuprates, Science 283, 49 (1999).
- D. van der Marel and A. Tsvetkov, Transverse optical plasmons in layered superconductors, Czech. J. Phys. 46, 3165 (1996).
- D. van der Marel and A. A. Tsvetkov, Transverse-optical Josephson plasmons: Equations of motion, Phys. Rev. B 64, 024530 (2001).
- H. Shibata and T. Yamada, Double Josephson plasma resonance in * phase , Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 3519 (1998).
- T. Kakeshita, S. Uchida, K. M. Kojima, S. Adachi, S. Tajima, B. Gorshunov, and M. Dressel, Transverse Josephson plasma mode in * cuprate superconductors, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4140 (2001).
- W. Hu, S. Kaiser, D. Nicoletti, C. R. Hunt, I. Gierz, M. C. Hoffmann, M. Le Tacon, T. Loew, B. Keimer, and A. Cavalleri, Optically enhanced coherent transport in by ultrafast redistribution of interlayer coupling, Nat. Mater. 13, 705 (2014).
- S. Kaiser, C. R. Hunt, D. Nicoletti, W. Hu, I. Gierz, H. Y. Liu, M. Le Tacon, T. Loew, D. Haug, B. Keimer, and A. Cavalleri, Optically induced coherent transport far above in underdoped , Phys. Rev. B 89, 184516 (2014).
- M. Först, A. Frano, S. Kaiser, R. Mankowsky, C. R. Hunt, J. J. Turner, G. L. Dakovski, M. P. Minitti, J. Robinson, T. Loew, M. Le Tacon, B. Keimer, J. P. Hill, A. Cavalleri, and S. S. Dhesi, Femtosecond x rays link melting of charge-density wave correlations and light-enhanced coherent transport in , Phys. Rev. B 90, 184514 (2014).
- R. Mankowsky, A. Subedi, M. Först, S. O. Mariager, M. Chollet, H. T. Lemke, J. S. Robinson, J. M. Glownia, M. P. Minitti, A. Frano, M. Fechner, N. A. Spaldin, T. Loew, B. Keimer, A. Georges, and A. Cavalleri, Nonlinear lattice dynamics as a basis for enhanced superconductivity in , Nature (London) 516, 71 (2014).
- R. Mankowsky, M. Först, T. Loew, J. Porras, B. Keimer, and A. Cavalleri, Coherent modulation of the atomic structure by displacive stimulated ionic Raman scattering, Phys. Rev. B 91, 094308 (2015).
- C. R. Hunt, D. Nicoletti, S. Kaiser, D. Pröpper, T. Loew, J. Porras, B. Keimer, and A. Cavalleri, Dynamical decoherence of the light induced interlayer coupling in , Phys. Rev. B 94, 224303 (2016).
- B. Liu, M. Först, M. Fechner, D. Nicoletti, J. Porras, T. Loew, B. Keimer, and A. Cavalleri, Pump frequency resonances for light-induced incipient superconductivity in , Phys. Rev. X 10, 011053 (2020).
- A. Ribak, M. Buzzi, D. Nicoletti, R. Singla, Y. Liu, S. Nakata, B. Keimer, and A. Cavalleri, Two-fluid dynamics in driven , Phys. Rev. B 107, 104508 (2023).
- D. Nicoletti, E. Casandruc, Y. Laplace, V. Khanna, C. R. Hunt, S. Kaiser, S. S. Dhesi, G. D. Gu, J. P. Hill, and A. Cavalleri, Optically induced superconductivity in striped by polarization-selective excitation in the near infrared, Phys. Rev. B 90, 100503(R) (2014).
- E. Casandruc, D. Nicoletti, S. Rajasekaran, Y. Laplace, V. Khanna, G. D. Gu, J. P. Hill, and A. Cavalleri, Wavelength-dependent optical enhancement of superconducting interlayer coupling in , Phys. Rev. B 91, 174502 (2015).
- D. Nicoletti, D. Fu, O. Mehio, S. Moore, A. S. Disa, G. D. Gu, and A. Cavalleri, Magnetic-field tuning of light-induced superconductivity in striped , Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 267003 (2018).
- S. Fava, G. De Vecchi, G. Jotzu, M. Buzzi, T. Gebert, Y. Liu, B. Keimer, and A. Cavalleri, Magnetic field expulsion in optically driven , Nature (London) 632, 75 (2024).
- A. von Hoegen, M. Fechner, M. Först, N. Taherian, E. Rowe, A. Ribak, J. Porras, B. Keimer, M. Michael, E. Demler, and A. Cavalleri, Amplification of superconducting fluctuations in driven , Phys. Rev. X 12, 031008 (2022).
- M. H. Michael, A. von Hoegen, M. Fechner, M. Först, A. Cavalleri, and E. Demler, Parametric resonance of Josephson plasma waves: A theory for optically amplified interlayer superconductivity in , Phys. Rev. B 102, 174505 (2020).
- N. Taherian, M. Först, A. Liu, M. Fechner, D. Pavicevic, A. von Hoegen, E. Rowe, Y. Liu, S. Nakata, B. Keimer, E. Demler, M. H. Michael, and A. Cavalleri, Probing amplified Josephson plasmons in by multidimensional spectroscopy, npj Quantum Mater. 10, 54 (2025).
- S. J. Zhang, Z. X. Wang, H. Xiang, X. Yao, Q. M. Liu, L. Y. Shi, T. Lin, T. Dong, D. Wu, and N. L. Wang, Photoinduced nonequilibrium response in underdoped probed by time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy, Phys. Rev. X 10, 011056 (2020).
- K. Katsumi, M. Nishida, S. Kaiser, S. Miyasaka, S. Tajima, and R. Shimano, Near-infrared light-induced superconducting-like state in underdoped studied by -axis terahertz third-harmonic generation, Phys. Rev. B 107, 214506 (2023).
- J. S. Dodge, L. Lopez, and D. G. Sahota, Optical saturation produces spurious evidence for photoinduced superconductivity in , Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 146002 (2023).
- M. Buzzi, D. Nicoletti, E. Rowe, E. Wang, and A. Cavalleri, Comment on arXiv:2210.01114: Optical Saturation Produces Spurious Evidence for Photoinduced Superconductivity in , arXiv:2303.10169.
- S. J. Zhang, X. Y. Zhou, S. X. Xu, Q. Wu, L. Yue, Q. M. Liu, T. C. Hu, R. S. Li, J. Y. Yuan, C. C. Homes, G. D. Gu, T. Dong, and N. L. Wang, Light-induced melting of competing stripe orders without introducing superconductivity in , Phys. Rev. X 14, 011036 (2024).
- Y. S. Lee, K. Segawa, Z. Q. Li, W. J. Padilla, M. Dumm, S. V. Dordevic, C. C. Homes, Y. Ando, and D. N. Basov, Electrodynamics of the nodal metal state in weakly doped high- cuprates, Phys. Rev. B 72, 054529 (2005).
- Y.-S. Lee, K. Segawa, Y. Ando, and D. N. Basov, Coherence and superconductivity in coupled one-dimensional chains: A case study of , Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 137004 (2005).
- J. Hwang, J. Yang, T. Timusk, S. G. Sharapov, J. P. Carbotte, D. A. Bonn, R. Liang, and W. N. Hardy, -axis optical conductivity of detwinned ortho-II , Phys. Rev. B 73, 014508 (2006).
- See Supplemental Material at http://link.aps.org/supplemental/10.1103/2m3d-s3j9 for sample growth and characterization, equilibrium optical properties, pump-probe setup and data acquisition, determination of the transient optical properties, fitting models, extracted parameters, and extended data sets, which includes Refs. [15, 16, 26, 29, 30, 31, 35, 36, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43].
- M. Rosenberg, D. Nicoletti, M. Buzzi, A. Iudica, C. Putzke, Y. Liu, B. Keimer, and A. Cavalleri, Source data for Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 can be found at D. Nicoletti 2025, Signatures of three-dimensional photoinduced superconductivity in (2025), Edmond, https://doi.org/10.17617/3.U3DF60.
- Y.-S. Lee, K. Segawa, Y. Ando, and D. N. Basov, Quasiparticle dynamics and in-plane anisotropy in near the onset of superconductivity, Phys. Rev. B 70, 014518 (2004).
- W. Zimmermann, E. H. Brandt, M. Bauer, E. Seider, and L. Genzel, Optical conductivity of BCS superconductors with arbitrary purity, Phys. C (Amsterdam, Neth.) 183, 99 (1991).
- Z. Tagay, F. Mahmood, A. Legros, T. Sarkar, R. L. Greene, and N. P. Armitage, BCS -wave behavior in the terahertz electrodynamic response of electron-doped cuprate superconductors, Phys. Rev. B 104, 064501 (2021).
- M. H. Michael, D. De Santis, E. A. Demler, and P. A. Lee, Giant Dynamical Paramagnetism in the driven pseudogap phase of , arXiv:2410.12919.
- M. H. Michael, E. A. Demler, and P. A. Lee, Parametrically amplified Josephson plasma waves in : Evidence for local superconducting fluctuations up to the pseudogap temperature *, arXiv:2505.03358.
- J. T. Kindt and C. A. Schmuttenmaer, Theory for determination of the low-frequency time-dependent response function in liquids using time-resolved terahertz pulse spectroscopy, J. Chem. Phys. 110, 8589 (1999).
- D. van der Marel, H. J. A. Molegraaf, J. Zaanen, Z. Nussinov, F. Carbone, A. Damascelli, H. Eisaki, M. Greven, P. H. Kes, and M. Li, Quantum critical behaviour in a high- superconductor, Nature (London) 425, 271 (2003).
- L. Lopez, D. G. Sahota, and J. S. Dodge, Nonlinear photoconductivity in pump-probe spectroscopy. I. Optical coefficients, arXiv:2410.21496.
- M. Born and E. Wolf, Principles of Optics, 7th ed. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999).
- A. B. Kuzmenko, D. van der Marel, F. Carbone, and F. Marsiglio, Model-independent sum rule analysis based on limited-range spectral data, New J. Phys. 9, 229 (2007).