Optical melting of the transverse Josephson plasmon: a comparison between bilayer and trilayer cuprates

TL;DR

This study compares the optical melting of the transverse Josephson plasmon in bilayer and trilayer cuprates, revealing differences in light-induced interlayer coherence and providing insights into interlayer coupling physics.

Contribution

It presents the first comparative analysis of optical melting of the transverse Josephson plasmon in bilayer and trilayer cuprates under similar conditions.

Findings

Spectral weight loss at the transverse plasma mode resonance in both cuprates.

Absence of light-enhanced interlayer coherence in trilayer Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10.

Differences in interlayer coupling behavior between bilayer and trilayer cuprates.

Abstract

We report on an investigation of the redistribution of interlayer coherence in the trilayer cuprate Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10. The experiment is performed under the same apical-oxygen phonon excitation discussed in the past for the bilayer cuprate YBa2Cu3O6.5. In Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10, we observe a similar spectral weight loss at the transverse plasma mode resonance seen in YBa2Cu3O6.5. However, this feature is not accompanied by light-enhanced interlayer coherence that was seen in YBa2Cu3O6+x, for which the transverse plasma mode is observed at equilibrium even in the normal state. These new observations offer new experimental perspective in the context of the physics of light-enhanced interlayer coupling in various cuprates.