Role of Interlayer Coupling on the Competition Between Bond-Density-Wave Order and Superconductivity

Over the past few years, several exciting experiments in the cuprates have seen evidence of a transient superconducting state upon optical excitation polarized along the c-axis. The competition between d-form-factor density wave order and superconductivity in these materials has been proposed as an important factor in the observed enhancement of superconductivity. Central to this effect is the structure of the bond-density-wave along the c-axis, in particular the c-axis component of the ordering vector. Motivated by the fact that the bond-density-wave order empirically shows a broad peak in c-axis momentum, we consider a model of randomly oriented charge ordering domains and study how interlayer coupling affects the competition of this order with superconductivity.