Correlation-induced superconductivity dynamically stabilized and enhanced by laser irradiation

• Published in: Science advances Vol. 3; no. 8; p. e1700718
• Main Authors: Ido, Kota, Ohgoe, Takahiro, Imada, Masatoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 01.08.2017
• Subjects: Physical Sciences; SciAdv r-articles; Superconductivity
• ISSN: 2375-2548; 2375-2548
• DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700718

Laser irradiation stabilizes strong-coupling superconductivity without charge inhomogeneities that is inaccessible in equilibrium. Studies on out-of-equilibrium dynamics have paved a way to realize a new state of matter. Superconductor-like properties above room temperatures recently suggested to be in copper oxides achieved by selectively exciting vibrational phonon modes by laser have inspired studies on an alternative and general strategy to be pursued for high-temperature superconductivity. We show that the superconductivity can be enhanced by irradiating laser to correlated electron systems owing to two mechanisms: First, the effective attractive interaction of carriers is enhanced by the dynamical localization mechanism, which drives the system into strong coupling regions. Second, the irradiation allows reaching uniform and enhanced superconductivity dynamically stabilized without deteriorating into equilibrium inhomogeneities that suppress superconductivity. The dynamical superconductivity is subject to the Higgs oscillations during and after the irradiation. Our finding sheds light on a way to enhance superconductivity that is inaccessible in equilibrium in strongly correlated electron systems.