Coherent Quench of Superconducting State Using Optical Vortex Pulses

Recently, topological lightwaves, represented by optical vortices, have become easily generated and are expected to have many novel applications. In this work, we report on coherent quench spectroscopy of a cuprate superconductor using optical vortex pulses to reveal the spatially modulated superconducting (SC) state. The transient response after quenching by the optical vortex pulse shows the spatially localized SC response that remains unquenched around the dark spot of the optical vortex. The spatially resolved imaging of the optical vortex-induced SC improves the spatial resolution in a similar principle to super-resolution microscopy.