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1. Light quantum control of persisting Higgs modes in iron-based superconductors

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20350-6  

   Vaswani, C.; Kang, J. H.; Mootz, M.; Luo, L.; Yang, X.; Sundahl, C.; Cheng, D.; Huang, C.; Kim, R. H.; Liu, Z.; et al (December 2021, Nature Communications)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract The Higgs mechanism, i.e., spontaneous symmetry breaking of the quantum vacuum, is a cross-disciplinary principle, universal for understanding dark energy, antimatter and quantum materials, from superconductivity to magnetism. Unlike one-band superconductors (SCs), a conceptually distinct Higgs amplitude mode can arise in multi-band, unconventional superconductors  via strong interband Coulomb interaction, but is yet to be accessed. Here we discover such hybrid Higgs mode and demonstrate its quantum control by light in iron-based high-temperature SCs. Using terahertz (THz) two-pulse coherent spectroscopy, we observe a tunable amplitude mode coherent oscillation of the complex order parameter from coupled lower and upper bands. The nonlinear dependence of the hybrid Higgs mode on the THz driving fields is distinct from any known SC results: we observe a large reversible modulation of resonance strength, yet with a persisting mode frequency. Together with quantum kinetic modeling of a hybrid Higgs mechanism, distinct from charge-density fluctuations and without invoking phonons or disorder, our result provides compelling evidence for a light-controlled coupling between the electron and hole amplitude modes assisted by strong interband quantum entanglement. Such light-control of Higgs hybridization can be extended to probe many-body entanglement and hidden symmetries in other complex systems. 

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2. Periodic dynamics in superconductors induced by an impulsive optical quench

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-022-01007-w  

   Dolgirev, Pavel E.; Zong, Alfred; Michael, Marios H.; Curtis, Jonathan B.; Podolsky, Daniel; Cavalleri, Andrea; Demler, Eugene (December 2022, Communications Physics)

   Abstract A number of experiments have evidenced signatures of enhanced superconducting correlations after photoexcitation. Initially, these experiments were interpreted as resulting from quasi-static changes in the Hamiltonian parameters, for example, due to lattice deformations or melting of competing phases. Yet, several recent observations indicate that these conjectures are either incorrect or do not capture all the observed phenomena, which include reflectivity exceeding unity, large shifts of Josephson plasmon edges, and appearance of new peaks in terahertz reflectivity. These observations can be explained from the perspective of a Floquet theory involving a periodic drive of system parameters, but the origin of the underlying oscillations remains unclear. In this paper, we demonstrate that following incoherent photoexcitation, long-lived oscillations are generally expected in superconductors with low-energy Josephson plasmons, such as in cuprates or fullerene superconductor K 3 C 60 . These oscillations arise from the parametric generation of plasmon pairs due to pump-induced perturbation of the superconducting order parameter. We show that this bi-plasmon response can persist even above the transition temperature as long as strong superconducting fluctuations are present. Our analysis offers a robust framework to understand light-induced superconducting behavior, and the predicted bi-plasmon oscillations can be directly detected using available experimental techniques. 

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3. Effect of Fermi surface topology change on the Kagome superconductor CeRu2 under pressure

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtphys.2023.101322  

   Deng, Liangzi; Gooch, Melissa; Liu, Hongxiong; Salke, Nilesh P.; Bontke, Trevor; Shao, Sen; You, Jingyang; Schulze, Daniel J.; Kumar, Ravhi; Yin, Jia-Xin; et al (January 2024, Materials Today Physics)

   - (Ed.)

   The cubic Laves phase compound CeRu2 with a Kagome substructure of Ru has been investigated to understand myriad fascinating phenomena resulting from competition among its various physical and geometric features. Such phenomena include flat bands, van Hove singularities, Dirac cones, reentrant superconductivity, magnetism, the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov state, valence fluctuations, time-irreversible anisotropic s-state superconductivity, etc. Extensive studies have thus been carried out since 1958 when the highly unusual coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism was proposed for the mixed compounds (Ce,Gd)Ru2. Activity has accelerated in recent years due to increasing interest in topological states in superconductors. However, there has been little investigation of the mutual influence of these fascinating states. Therefore, we systematically investigated the superconductivity and possible Fermi surface topological change in CeRu2 via magnetic, resistivity, and structural measurements under pressure up to ~168 GPa. An unusual phase diagram that suggests an intriguing interplay between the compound’s superconducting order and Fermi surface topological order has been constructed. A resurgence in its superconducting transition temperature was observed above 28 GPa. Our experiments have identified a structural transition above 76 GPa and a few tantalizing phase transitions driven by high pressure. Our high-pressure results further suggest that superconductivity and Fermi surface topology in CeRu2 are strongly intertwined, 

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4. Monte Carlo study of the pseudogap and superconductivity emerging from quantum magnetic fluctuations

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30302-x  

   Jiang, Weilun; Liu, Yuzhi; Klein, Avraham; Wang, Yuxuan; Sun, Kai; Chubukov, Andrey V.; Meng, Zi Yang (May 2022, Nature Communications)

   Abstract The origin of the pseudogap behavior, found in many high-T_csuperconductors, remains one of the greatest puzzles in condensed matter physics. One possible mechanism is fermionic incoherence, which near a quantum critical point allows pair formation but suppresses superconductivity. Employing quantum Monte Carlo simulations of a model of itinerant fermions coupled to ferromagnetic spin fluctuations, represented by a quantum rotor, we report numerical evidence of pseudogap behavior, emerging from pairing fluctuations in a quantum-critical non-Fermi liquid. Specifically, we observe enhanced pairing fluctuations and a partial gap opening in the fermionic spectrum. However, the system remains non-superconducting until reaching a much lower temperature. In the pseudogap regime the system displays a “gap-filling rather than “gap-closing behavior, similar to the one observed in cuprate superconductors. Our results present direct evidence of the pseudogap state, driven by superconducting fluctuations. 

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5. Energy-scale considerations of unconventional superconductors—implications to condensation and pairing

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physc.2023.1354361  

   Uemura, Yasutomo J. (November 2023, Physica C: Superconductivity and its Applications)

   Keller, Hugo; Bussmann-Holder, Annette; Deutscher, Guy; Lorenzana, José; Malozemoff, Alexis P.; Mihailovic, Dragan; Chu, Ching W (Ed.)

   Part of Special Issue: Oxide superconductors and beyond - In memoriam of Professor Karl Alex Müller, Abstract: Discovery of high-Tc cuprate superconductors (HTSC) in 1986 by Bednorz and Muller, followed by synthesis of A3C60, iron-pnictides/chalcogenides and other exotic superconducting (SC) systems, introduced unconventional superconductors (UCSC) having their mechanisms of condensation and/or pairing distinctly different from those of simpler metals which can be explained by BCS theory. This article will show how one can demonstrate their new mechanisms by examining correlations among key energy-scale parameters, including the transition temperature Tc, the superfluid density ns/m*, the effective Fermi energy εF, the excitation energy of the magnetic resonance mode (MRM), the onset temperatures of Nernst effect and light-induced transient superconductivity, and the spin fluctuation energy scale ℏωsf, and by resorting to analogy / comparisons with superfluid 4He as a representative system undergoing Bose Einstein Condensation (BEC). We will propose a paring mechanism in HTSC based on resonance of spin (ℏωsf) and charge (εF) energy scales, and apply that concept for explaining unusual behaviors in the overdoped region. We will also discuss modifications of a simple BEC-BCS crossover picture to account for actual situations with additional effects of competing order and phase separation. 

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