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Ultrafast Orbital-Selective Photodoping Melts Charge Order in Overdoped Bi-based Cuprates

Superconductivity 2025-06-06 v1 Strongly Correlated Electrons

Abstract

High-temperature superconductivity in cuprates remains one of the enduring puzzles of condensed matter physics, with charge order (CO) playing a central yet elusive role, particularly in the overdoped regime. Here, we employ time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy and resonant X-ray scattering at a free-electron laser to probe the transient electronic density of states and ultrafast CO dynamics in overdoped (Bi,Pb)2.12_{2.12}Sr1.88_{1.88}CuO6+δ_{6+\delta}. We reveal a striking pump laser wavelength dependence - the 800 nm light fails to suppress CO, whereas the 400 nm light effectively melts it. This behavior originates from the fact that 400 nm photons can promote electrons from the Zhang-Rice singlet band to the upper Hubbard band or apical oxygen states, while 800 nm photons lack the energy to excite electrons across the charge-transfer gap. The CO recovery time (\sim3 ps) matches that of the underdoped cuprates, indicating universal electronic instability in the phase diagram. Additionally, melting overdoped CO requires an order-of-magnitude higher fluence highlighting the role of lattice interactions. Our findings demonstrate orbital-selective photodoping and provide a route to ultrafast control of emergent quantum phases in correlated materials.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2506.04697,
  title  = {Ultrafast Orbital-Selective Photodoping Melts Charge Order in Overdoped Bi-based Cuprates},
  author = {Xinyi Jiang and Qizhi Li and Qingzheng Qiu and Li Yue and Junhan Huang and Yiwen Chen and Byungjune Lee and Hyeongi Choi and Xingjiang Zhou and Tao Dong and Nanlin Wang and Hoyoung Jang and Yingying Peng},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.04697},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

13 pages, 11 figures, comments are welcome