Mechanisms of nonthermal destruction of the superconducting state and melting of the charge-density-wave state by femtosecond laser pulses

TL;DR

This paper investigates how femtosecond laser pulses nonthermally destroy superconducting and charge-density-wave states, revealing different timescales and mechanisms for vaporization and melting in various materials.

Contribution

It provides a systematic analysis of the distinct nonthermal destruction mechanisms and introduces models explaining the observed behaviors in superconductors and CDW materials.

Findings

Vaporization in superconductors is slow (~1 ps) and depends on Tc.

CDW melting occurs rapidly (50-200 fs) and is more efficient.

Different mechanisms—phonon-mediated QP bottleneck and Fermi surface disruption—drive the destruction processes.

Abstract

The processes leading to nonthermal condensate vaporization and charge-density wave (CDW) melting with femtosecond laser pulses is systematically investigated in different materials. We find that vaporization is relatively slow (tau_v ~ 1 ps) and inefficient in superconductors, exhibiting a strong systematic dependence of the vaporization energy Uv on Tc. In contrast, melting of CDW order proceeds rapidly (tau_m = 50 ~ 200 fs) and more efficiently. A quantitative model describing the observed systematic behavior in superconductors is proposed based on a phonon-mediated quasi-particle (QP) bottleneck mechanism. In contrast, Fermi surface disruption by hot QPs is proposed to be responsible for CDW state melting.