Light-induced superconducting-like states have been reported in several classes of correlated materials. From a theoretical point of view, the induction of $\eta$-pairing is a promising route to nonthermal superconductivity. Numerical studies of photo-doped Mott systems revealed $\eta$-pairing states with very high effective critical temperatures. These investigations were, however, restricted to particle–hole symmetric states in large-gap Mott insulators, while the experiments were performed on strongly correlated metallic systems without particle-hole symmetry. It is thus relevant to explore whether $\eta$-pairing also exists in non-particle–hole symmetric setups and in photo-excited metallic states. Here, we use steady-state nonequilibrium dynamical mean-field theory combined with a strong-coupling impurity solver up to third order to investigate this issue. We find that in the strongly correlated regime with a large Mott gap, and for low effective doublon and holon temperatures, $\eta$-pairing is robust against changes in the total filling and an imbalance in the doublon and holon density. An asymmetry in the effective doublon and holon temperatures can, however, strongly suppress the order parameter. In photo-doped metallic systems with a three-peak structure in the local density of states, $\eta$-pairing can be realized in setups with positive doublon and holon temperatures and a population inversion in the low-energy quasiparticle band.

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• Electrical properties
• Light-matter interaction
• Superconductivity
• Mott insulators
• Nonequilibrium systems
• Dynamical mean field theory
• Hubbard model