Light-Induced Superconductivity (IMAGE)

DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory

Light-Induced Superconductivity

Caption

In equilibrium (top), the charge stripe "ripples" run perpendicular to each other between the copper-oxide layers of the material. When a mid-infrared laser pulse strikes the material (middle), it "melts" these conflicting ripples and induces superconductivity (bottom). The experimenters used a carefully synchronized X-ray laser to take this femtosecond-fast "movie" to reveal how quickly the charge stripes melt.

Credit

Courtesy Jörg Harms, Max-Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter

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