Optical Saturation Produces Spurious Evidence for Photoinduced Superconductivity in K$_{3}$C$_{60}$

TL;DR

This paper identifies how optical saturation effects can falsely suggest photoinduced superconductivity in K$_{3}$C$_{60}$ by distorting measurements, emphasizing the need for correction in pump-probe spectroscopy.

Contribution

It reveals a systematic error caused by optical nonlinearities that can mimic superconductivity signals in time-resolved optical conductivity data.

Findings

Optical saturation distorts photoconductivity spectra.

Existing measurements on K$_{3}$C$_{60}$ may be misinterpreted.

Recommendations for correcting measurement artifacts.

Abstract

We discuss a systematic uncertainty in time-resolved optical conductivity measurements that becomes important at high pump intensities. We show that common optical nonlinearities can distort the photoconductivity depth profile, and by extension distort the photoconductivity spectrum. We show evidence that this distortion is present in existing measurements on K$_{3}$C$_{60}$, and describe how it may create the appearance of photoinduced superconductivity where none exists. Similar errors may emerge in other pump-probe spectroscopy measurements, and we discuss how to correct for them.