Optical and magnetic signatures of drive-enhanced coherence in phase-disordered superconducting bilayers
Abstract
Recent experiments demonstrating superconducting-like characteristics in materials above their equilibrium transition temperatures following strong sub-picosecond optical excitation have stimulated theoretical interest in phase-disordered superconductors subject to a periodically modulated superfluid stiffness. Previous analyses of the single-layer optical conductivity have shown that such a drive can enhance the low-frequency 1/ω response, even when the period-averaged stiffness remains unchanged. We extend these studies to bilayer systems, such as the YBa2Cu3O6+x (YBCO) cuprate, by considering drives with different symmetries. Specifically, we investigate a layer-symmetric drive, in which the two planes stiffen and soften simultaneously, and a layer-antisymmetric drive, in which one plane stiffens while the other softens. Both drives enhance correlations of the layer-averaged phase and generate comparable superconducting-like optical conductivities. Only the symmetric drive, however, strengthens relative-phase locking and the associated counterflow response to a magnetic field parallel to the planes. Thus, an enhanced 1/ω optical conductivity does not by itself imply enhanced magnetic screening. In view of applications to driven YBCO, where superconducting-like in-plane optics and transient diamagnetism have both been reported, our result provides a symmetry diagnostic: within a phase-synchronization mechanism, the experimentally active low-frequency stiffness modulation must contain a substantial layer-symmetric component.
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BibTeX
@misc{santis2026optical,
title = {{Optical and magnetic signatures of drive-enhanced coherence in phase-disordered superconducting bilayers}},
author = {Duilio De Santis and Sambuddha Chattopadhyay and Marios H. Michael and Andrea Cavalleri and Gil Refael and Patrick A. Lee and Eugene A. Demler},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.16137},
eprint = {2609.16137},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.16137},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Optical and magnetic signatures of drive-enhanced coherence in phase-disordered superconducting bilayers
AU - Duilio De Santis
AU - Sambuddha Chattopadhyay
AU - Marios H. Michael
AU - Andrea Cavalleri
AU - Gil Refael
AU - Patrick A. Lee
AU - Eugene A. Demler
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.16137
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.16137
AB - Recent experiments demonstrating superconducting-like characteristics in materials above their equilibrium transition temperatures following strong sub-picosecond optical excitation have stimulated theoretical interest in phase-disordered superconductors subject to a periodically modulated superfluid stiffness. Previous analyses of the single-layer optical conductivity have shown that such a drive can enhance the low-frequency 1/ω response, even when the period-averaged stiffness remains unchanged. We extend these studies to bilayer systems, such as the YBa_2Cu_3O_6+x (YBCO) cuprate, by considering drives with different symmetries. Specifically, we investigate a layer-symmetric drive, in which the two planes stiffen and soften simultaneously, and a layer-antisymmetric drive, in which one plane stiffens while the other softens. Both drives enhance correlations of the layer-averaged phase and generate comparable superconducting-like optical conductivities. Only the symmetric drive, however, strengthens relative-phase locking and the associated counterflow response to a magnetic field parallel to the planes. Thus, an enhanced 1/ω optical conductivity does not by itself imply enhanced magnetic screening. In view of applications to driven YBCO, where superconducting-like in-plane optics and transient diamagnetism have both been reported, our result provides a symmetry diagnostic: within a phase-synchronization mechanism, the experimentally active low-frequency stiffness modulation must contain a substantial layer-symmetric component.
ER -