Imaging a terahertz superfluid plasmon in a two-dimensional superconductor.

Abstract

The superconducting gap defines the fundamental energy scale for the emergence of dissipationless transport and collective phenomena in a superconductor^1-3. In layered high-temperature cuprate superconductors, in which the Cooper pairs are confined to weakly coupled two-dimensional (2D) copper-oxygen (CuO₂) planes^4,5, terahertz (THz) spectroscopy at subgap millielectronvolt (meV) energies has provided crucial insights into the collective superfluid response perpendicular to the superconducting layers^6-9. However, within the CuO₂ planes, the collective superfluid response manifests as plasmonic charge oscillations at energies far exceeding the superconducting gap, obscured by strong dissipation^2,6,9,10. Here we present spectroscopic evidence of a below-gap, 2D superfluid plasmon in few-layer Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+x and spatially resolve its deeply subdiffractive THz electrodynamics. By placing the superconductor in the near field of a spintronic THz emitter, we reveal this distinct resonance-absent in bulk samples and observed only in the superconducting phase-and determine its plasmonic nature by mapping the geometric anisotropy and dispersion. Crucially, these measurements offer a direct view of the momentum-dependent and frequency-dependent superconducting transition in two dimensions.