Fig. 1: Light-induced metastable triplet superconductors.
From: Light-induced switching between singlet and triplet superconducting states
(1) The system starts in a superconducting phase that is even-parity (singlet-pairing) in equilibrium. (2) An optical pulse dynamically breaks inversion symmetry, driving the system toward a local minimum in its free energy landscape that comprises multiple competing order parameters. (3) The system relaxes into a metastable superconducting state that is odd-parity (triplet-pairing). (4) Since inversion symmetry is restored after the pulse, equilibration back to the opposite-parity state is suppressed.
