Light-Induced Charge Order Mode in a Metastable Cuprate Ladder
Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 196501 – Published 11 May, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/wdcf-jly6
Abstract
We report the observation of an emergent charge order mode in the optically excited cuprate ladder . Near-infrared light in the ladder plane drives a symmetry-protected electronic metastable state together with a partial melting of the equilibrium charge order. Our time-resolved resonant inelastic x-ray scattering measurements at the upper Hubbard band reveal a collective excitation dispersing from the charge order wave vector up to 0.8 eV with a slope on the order of the quasiparticle velocity. These findings reveal a regime where correlated carriers acquire itinerant character at finite momentum, and charge order becomes dynamically fluctuating, offering a platform to explore light-induced pairing instabilities.