Restoring interlayer Josephson coupling in La1.885Ba0.115CuO4 by charge transfer melting of stripe order

Here, we show that disruption of charge-density-wave (stripe) order by charge transfer excitation, enhances the superconducting phase rigidity in La1.885Ba0.115CuO4. Time-resolved resonant soft x-ray diffraction demonstrates that charge order melting is prompt following near-infrared photoexcitation whereas the crystal structure remains intact for moderate fluences. THz time-domain spectroscopy reveals that, for the first 2 ps following photoexcitation, a new Josephson plasma resonance edge, at higher frequency with respect to the equilibrium edge, is induced indicating enhanced superconducting interlayer coupling. Furthermore, the fluence dependence of the charge-order melting and the enhanced superconducting interlayer coupling are correlated with a saturation limit of ~0.5mJ/cm2. When using a combination of x-ray and optical spectroscopies we establish a hierarchy of timescales between enhanced superconductivity, melting of charge order, and rearrangement of the crystal structure.