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Title: Light-Induced Melting of Competing Stripe Orders without Introducing Superconductivity in La 2 x Ba x CuO 4

Journal Article · · Physical Review. X

The ultrafast manipulation of quantum material has led to many novel and significant discoveries. Among them, the light-induced transient superconductivity in cuprates achieved by melting competing stripe orders represents a highly appealing accomplishment. However, recent investigations have shown that the notion of photoinduced superconductivity remains a topic of controversy, and its elucidation solely through c -axis time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy remains an arduous task. Here, we measure the in-plane and out-of-plane transient terahertz responses simultaneously in the stripe-ordered nonsuperconducting La2-xBaxCuO4 after near-infrared excitations. We find that although a pump-induced reflectivity edge appears in the c -axis reflectance spectrum, the reflectivity along the CuO2 planes decreases simultaneously, indicating an enhancement in the scattering rate of quasiparticles. This in-plane transient response is clearly distinct from the features associated with superconducting condensation. Therefore, we conclude the out-of-plane transient responses cannot be explained by an equivalent of Josephson tunneling. Notably, those pump-induced terahertz responses remain consistent even when we vary the near-infrared optical pump wavelengths and hole concentrations. Our results provide critical evidence that transient three-dimensional superconductivity cannot be induced by melting the competing stripe orders with pump pulses whose photon energy is much higher than the superconducting gap of cuprates.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; 11888101; 2020M680181
OSTI ID:
2318564
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2324871
Report Number(s):
BNL-225385-2024-JAAM; PRXHAE; 011036
Journal Information:
Physical Review. X, Journal Name: Physical Review. X Vol. 14 Journal Issue: 1; ISSN 2160-3308
Publisher:
American Physical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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