Giant Dynamical Paramagnetism in the driven pseudogap phase of $ \rm YBa_2Cu_3O_{6+x}$

TL;DR

This paper proposes a model explaining giant paramagnetic responses in driven YBCO, revealing local pairing in the pseudogap phase and introducing a fundamental sine-Gordon instability with potential technological applications.

Contribution

It introduces a driven sine-Gordon model to explain transient magnetic phenomena in YBCO, linking local pairing to observed effects and uncovering a new fundamental instability.

Findings

Giant paramagnetic magnetization explained by a sine-Gordon instability.

Model fits experimental data on transient magnetic fields in YBCO.

Reveals local pairing persists up to the pseudogap temperature.

Abstract

In the past decade, photo-induced superconducting-like behaviors have been reported in a number of materials driven by intense pump fields. Of particular interest is the high-$T_c$ cuprate $\rm Y Ba_2 Cu_2 O_{6+x}$ (YBCO), where such effect has been reported up to the so-called pseudogap temperature $T^* \sim 300-400$ K. In a recent tour-de-force experiment, a transient magnetic field which is proportional to and in the same direction of an applied field has been observed outside the sample, suggestive of flux exclusion due to the Meissner effect. In this paper, we point out that the transient magnetic field could be explained by a model of bilayers of copper-oxygen planes with a \textit{local} superconducting phase variable persisting up to the pseudo-gap temperature at equilibrium. Under pumping, the time evolution is described by a driven sine-Gordon equation. In the presence of an external magnetic field, this model exhibits a novel instability which amplifies the current at the edges of the bilayer formed by defects or grain boundaries, producing a giant paramagnetic magnetization in the same direction as the applied field. We show how this scenario can fit most of the available data. To the extent that this model can account for the data, we conclude that the experiments have the important consequence of revealing the presence of local pairing in the pseudogap phase. While the bulk of this paper addresses the experiment on YBCO, this work reveals a new instability in the sine-Gordon equation that is of fundamental interest, with potential applications such as providing a mechanism for amplifying external magnetic fields at ultra-fast time scales in Josephson devices.