title: Possible light-induced superconductivity in K3C60 at high temperature.
abstract: The non-equilibrium control of emergent phenomena in solids is an important research frontier, encompassing effects such as the optical enhancement of superconductivity. Nonlinear excitation of certain phonons in bilayer copper oxides was recently shown to induce superconducting-like optical properties at temperatures far greater than the superconducting transition temperature, Tc (refs 4-6). This effect was accompanied by the disruption of competing charge-density-wave correlations, which explained some but not all of the experimental results. Here we report a similar phenomenon in a very different compound, K3C60. By exciting metallic K3C60 with mid-infrared optical pulses, we induce a large increase in carrier mobility, accompanied by the opening of a gap in the optical conductivity. These same signatures are observed at equilibrium when cooling metallic K3C60 below Tc (20 kelvin). Although optical techniques alone cannot unequivocally identify non-equilibrium high-temperature superconductivity, we propose this as a possible explanation of our results.
authors: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Mitrano
authors: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Cantaluppi
authors: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Nicoletti
authors: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Kaiser
authors: INSTM UdR Trieste-ST and Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., Area Science Park, 34012 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Perucchi
authors: CNR-IOM and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma "Sapienza", Piazzale A. Moro 2, 00185 Roma, Italy.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Lupi
authors: INSTM UdR Trieste-ST and Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., Area Science Park, 34012 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Di Pietro
authors: Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze, 7/a, 43124 Parma, Italy.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Pontiroli
authors: Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze, 7/a, 43124 Parma, Italy.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Riccò
authors: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Department of Physics, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.|Department of Physics, Oxford University, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
authors: S R
authors: SR
authors: Clark
authors: Department of Physics, Oxford University, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.|Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117543, Singapore.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Jaksch
authors: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Department of Physics, Oxford University, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Cavalleri