$\eta$-pairing superfluid in periodically-driven fermionic Hubbard model with strong attraction

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how periodic driving can induce a transition from s-wave to η-pairing superconductivity in a strongly attractive fermionic Hubbard model, revealing a new method to control pairing symmetries dynamically.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Floquet engineering approach to switch between different superconducting pairing states in a driven Hubbard model, highlighting the role of renormalized pair interactions.

Findings

Periodic driving renormalizes pair-hopping and pair-repulsion terms differently.

Dynamical transition from s-wave to η-pairing superconductivity is achievable.

Intermediate charge-ordered phase facilitates the transition.

Abstract

We propose a novel possibility of dynamically changing the pairing of superconductors from $s$ wave to $\eta$ pairing (where the pairs condense at the Brillouin-zone corner momenta) by driving the system with ac fields. We consider a periodically-driven attractive Hubbard model in the strong-coupling regime, and show that the pair-hopping and pair-repulsion terms in the effective Hamiltonian in the Floquet formalism are drastically renormalized in different manners between the two terms, which can change the ground states from an $s$-wave superconductivity to an $\eta$-pairing superconductivity or a charge-ordered phase. While in isolated systems such as cold atoms a simple quench scheme would not realize the dynamical phase transition into $\eta$ pairing, we show that there are pathways that realize the dynamical transition, where the field amplitude is varied via a charge-ordered phase as an intermediate state.