Orbital-selective time-domain signature of nematicity dynamics in the charge-density-wave phase of La$_{1.65}$Eu$_{0.2}$Sr$_{0.15}$CuO$_4

• Main Authors: Bluschke, Martin, Gupta, Naman K, Jang, Hoyoung, Husain, Ali A, Lee, Byungjune, Na, MengXing, Remedios, Brandon Dos, Smit, Steef, Moen, Peter, Park, Sang-Youn, Kim, Minseok, Jang, Dogeun, Choi, Hyeongi, Sutarto, Ronny, Reid, Alexander H, Dakovski, Georgi L, Coslovich, Giacomo, Nguyen, Quynh L, Burdet, Nicolas G, Lin, Ming-Fu, Revcolevschi, Alexandre, Park, Jae-Hoon, Geck, Jochen, Turner, Joshua J, Damascelli, Andrea, Hawthorn, David G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 23.09.2022
• Subjects: Physics - Strongly Correlated Electrons; Physics - Superconductivity
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2209.11528

Understanding the interplay between charge, nematic, and structural ordering tendencies in cuprate superconductors is critical to unraveling their complex phase diagram. Using pump-probe time-resolved resonant x-ray scattering on the (0 0 1) Bragg peak at the Cu $L_3$ and O $K$ resonances, we investigate non-equilibrium dynamics of $Q_a = Q_b = 0$ nematic order and its association with both charge density wave (CDW) order and lattice dynamics in La$_{1.65}$Eu$_{0.2}$Sr$_{0.15}$CuO$_4$. The orbital selectivity of the resonant x-ray scattering cross-section allows nematicity dynamics associated with the planar O 2$p$ and Cu 3$d$ states to be distinguished from the response of anisotropic lattice distortions. A direct time-domain comparison of CDW translational-symmetry breaking and nematic rotational-symmetry breaking reveals that these broken symmetries remain closely linked in the photoexcited state, consistent with the stability of CDW topological defects in the investigated pump fluence regime.