Orbital-selective time-domain signature of nematicity dynamics in the charge-density-wave phase of La 1.65 Eu 0.2 Sr 0.15 CuO 4

Understanding the interplay between charge, nematic, and structural ordering tendencies in cuprate superconductors is critical to unraveling their complex phase diagram. Using pump-probe time-resolved resonant X-ray scattering on the (0 0 1) Bragg peak at the Cu Formula: see text and O Formula: see text resonances, we investigate nonequilibrium dynamics of Formula: see text nematic order and its association with both charge density wave (CDW) order and lattice dynamics in LaFormula: see textEuFormula: see textSrFormula: see textCuOFormula: see text. The orbital selectivity of the resonant X-ray scattering cross-section allows nematicity dynamics associated with the planar O 2Formula: see text and Cu 3Formula: see text states to be distinguished from the response of anisotropic lattice distortions. A direct time-domain comparison of CDW translational-symmetry breaking and nematic rotational-symmetry breaking reveals that these broken symmetries remain closely linked in the photoexcited state, consistent with the stability of CDW topological defects in the investigated pump fluence regime.