Nonequilibrium steady states and transient dynamics of conventional superconductors under phonon driving

Abstract

The optical manipulation of phonon degrees of freedom can change the effective interactions in solids and potentially enhance superconductivity. However, heating and nonthermal energy distributions need to be considered to understand the ultimate effects of such a driving on ordered states. Using nonequilibrium dynamical mean field theory in the Kadanoff-Baym and Floquet implementation, the authors systematically discuss the effects of parametric phonon driving on conventional superconductivity. Both the transient dynamics of isolated systems and the nonequilibrium steady states in driven-dissipative systems are considered. While the phonon-mediated attractive interaction can be enhanced in certain driving regimes because of Floquet phonon sidebands, the heating and nonthermal distribution effects dominate and generically result in a suppression of superconductivity.