Magnetic field expulsion in optically driven YBa₂Cu₃O_6.48

Coherent optical driving in quantum solids is emerging as a research frontier, with many reports of interesting non-equilibrium quantum phases^1-4 and transient photo-induced functional phenomena such as ferroelectricity^5,6, magnetism^7-10 and superconductivity^11-14. In high-temperature cuprate superconductors, coherent driving of certain phonon modes has resulted in a transient state with superconducting-like optical properties, observed far above their transition temperature T_c and throughout the pseudogap phase^15-18. However, questions remain on the microscopic nature of this transient state and how to distinguish it from a non-superconducting state with enhanced carrier mobility. For example, it is not known whether cuprates driven in this fashion exhibit Meissner diamagnetism. Here we examine the time-dependent magnetic field surrounding an optically driven YBa₂Cu₃O_6.48 crystal by measuring Faraday rotation in a magneto-optic material placed in the vicinity of the sample. For a constant applied magnetic field and under the same driving conditions that result in superconducting-like optical properties^15-18, a transient diamagnetic response was observed. This response is comparable in size with that expected in an equilibrium type II superconductor of similar shape and size with a volume susceptibility χ_v of order -0.3. This value is incompatible with a photo-induced increase in mobility without superconductivity. Rather, it underscores the notion of a pseudogap phase in which incipient superconducting correlations are enhanced or synchronized by the drive.