Andrea Cavalleri

Abstract:

We propose and analyze a scheme for parametrically cooling bilayer cuprates based on the selective driving of a c-axis vibrational mode. The scheme exploits the vibration as a transducer making the Josephson plasma frequencies time dependent. We show how modulation at the difference frequency between the intrabilayer and interbilayer plasmon substantially suppresses interbilayer phase fluctuations, responsible for switching c-axis transport from a superconducting to a resistive state. Our calculations indicate that this may provide a viable mechanism for stabilizing nonequilibrium superconductivity even above Tc, provided a finite pair density survives between the bilayers out of equilibrium.

Abstract:

We report on the analysis of virtual powder-diffraction patterns from serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) data collected at an X-ray free-electron laser. Different approaches to binning and normalizing these patterns are discussed with respect to the microstructural characteristics which each highlights. Analysis of SFX data from a powder of Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 in this way finds evidence of other trace phases in its microstructure which was not detectable in a standard powder-diffraction measurement. Furthermore, a comparison between two virtual powder pattern integration strategies is shown to yield different diffraction peak broadening, indicating sensitivity to different types of microstrain. This paper is a first step in developing new data analysis methods for microstructure characterization from serial crystallography data.

Abstract:

We modulate the atomic structure of bilayer graphene by driving its lattice at resonance with the in-plane E_{1u} lattice vibration at 6.3  μm. Using time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (tr-ARPES) with extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) pulses, we measure the response of the Dirac electrons near the K point. We observe that lattice modulation causes anomalous carrier dynamics, with the Dirac electrons reaching lower peak temperatures and relaxing at faster rate compared to when the excitation is applied away from the phonon resonance or in monolayer samples. Frozen phonon calculations predict dramatic band structure changes when the E_{1u} vibration is driven, which we use to explain the anomalous dynamics observed in the experiment.