Direct picosecond measurement of photoinduced Cooper-pair breaking in lead

Nonequilibrium BCS state dynamics induced by intense terahertz pulses in a superconducting NbN film

Using terahertz (THz) pump-THz probe spectroscopy, we have investigated the dynamics of the nonequilibrium BCS state in a superconducting NbN film after the impulsive photoinjection of high-density Bogoliubov quasiparticles. The superconducting state rapidly changes within the duration of the monocycle THz pump pulse (1.6 ps). The complex optical conductivity spectrum in the nonequilibrium BCS state significantly deviates from that in the equilibrium state. The observed spectral features are qualitatively well described by the effective medium theory that assumes the formation of normal state patches embedded in a superconducting matrix.

Energy-gap dynamics of superconducting NbN thin films studied by time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy

Using time-domain terahertz spectroscopy we performed direct studies of the photoinduced suppression and recovery of the superconducting gap in a conventional BCS superconductor NbN. Both processes are found to be strongly temperature and excitation density dependent. The analysis of the data with the established phenomenological Rothwarf-Taylor model enabled us to determine the bare quasiparticle recombination rate, the Cooper pair-breaking rate and the electron-phonon coupling constant, λ=1.1±0.1, which is in excellent agreement with theoretical estimates.

Kinetics of a superconductor excited with a femtosecond optical pulse

Superconducting state dynamics following excitation of a superconductor with a femtosecond optical pulse is studied in terms of a phenomenological Rothwarf and Taylor model. Analytical solutions for various limiting cases are obtained. The model is found to account for the intensity and temperature dependence of both photoinduced quasiparticle density, as well as pair-breaking and superconducting state recovery dynamics in conventional as well as cuprate superconductors.

Pair-breaking and superconducting state recovery dynamics in MgB2

We present studies of the photoexcited quasiparticle dynamics in MgB2 where, using femtosecond optical techniques, Cooper pair-breaking dynamics (PBD) have been temporally resolved for the first time. The PBD are strongly temperature and photoexcitation intensity dependent. Analysis of the PBD using the Rothwarf-Taylor equations suggests that the anomalous PBD arises from the fact that in MgB2 photoexcitation is initially followed by energy relaxation to high frequency phonons instead of, as commonly assumed, e-e thermalization. Furthermore, the bare quasiparticle recombination rate and the probability for pair breaking by phonons have been determined.

Terahertz near-field imaging

A near-field probe is described that enables high spatial resolution imaging with terahertz (THz) pulses. The spatial resolution capabilities of the system lie in the range of few microns and we demonstrate a resolution of 7 microm using broad-banded THz pulses with an intensity maximum near 0.5 THz. We present a study of the performance of the near-field probes in the collection mode configuration and discuss some image properties.

Exploring the dynamics of superconductors by time-resolved far-infrared spectroscopy

We have examined the recombination of excess quasiparticles in superconducting Pb by time-resolved far-infrared spectroscopy using a pulsed synchrotron source. The energy gap shift calculated by Owen and Scalapino [Phys. Rev. Lett. 28, 1559 (1972)] is directly observed, as is the associated reduction in the Cooper pair density. The relaxation process involves a two-component decay; the faster ( approximately 200 ps) is associated with the actual (effective) recombination process, while the slower ( approximately 10 to 100 ns) is due to heat transport across the film/substrate interface. The temperature dependence of the recombination process between 0. 5T(c) and 0.85T(c) is in good agreement with theory.