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Abstract

In the past decade, photo-induced superconducting-like behaviors have been reported in a number of materials driven by intense pump fields. Of particular interest is the high-T_c cuprate YBa₂Cu₂O_6+x, where such effect has been reported up to the so-called pseudogap temperature T∗∼300−400 K. In a recent tour-de-force experiment, a transient magnetic field which is proportional to and in the same direction of an applied field has been observed outside the sample, suggestive of flux exclusion due to the Meissner effect. In this paper, we point out that the transient magnetic field could be explained by a model of bilayers of copper-oxygen planes with a local superconducting phase variable persisting up to the pseudo-gap temperature at equilibrium. Under pumping, the time evolution is described by a driven sine-Gordon equation. In the presence of an external magnetic field, this model exhibits a novel instability which amplifies the current at the edges of the bilayer formed by defects or grain boundaries, producing a giant paramagnetic magnetization in the same direction as the applied field. We present how this scenario can fit most of the available data and propose additional experimental tests which can distinguish our proposal from the Meissner flux exclusion scenario. To the extent that this model can account for the data, we conclude that the experiments have the important consequence of revealing the presence of local pairing in the pseudogap phase. More broadly, this work provides a new mechanism for amplifying external magnetic fields at ultra-fast time scales.