Dynamical decoherence of the light induced interlayer coupling in YBa₂Cu₃O_6+δ

Optical excitation of apical oxygen vibrations in YBa2Cu3O6+δ has been shown to enhance its c-axis superconducting-phase rigidity, as evidenced by a transient blue shift of the equilibrium inter-bilayer Josephson plasma resonance. Surprisingly, a transient c-axis plasma mode could also be induced above Tc by the same apical oxygen excitation, suggesting light activated superfluid tunneling throughout the pseudogap phase of YBa2Cu3O6+δ. However, despite the similarities between the above Tc transient plasma mode and the equilibrium Josephson plasmon, alternative explanations involving high mobility quasiparticle transport should be considered. Here, we report an extensive study of the relaxation of the light-induced plasmon into the equilibrium incoherent phase. These new experiments allow for a critical assessment of the nature of this mode. We determine that the transient plasma relaxes through a collapse of its coherence length rather than its carrier (or superfluid) density. These observations are not easily reconciled with quasiparticle interlayer transport, and rather support transient superfluid tunneling as the origin of the light-induced interlayer coupling in YBa2Cu3O6+δ