We demonstrate theoretically that shining light on superconducting proximity structures controls the minigap and triplet proximity effect in normal and magnetic metals, respectively. Considering both a bilayer and Josephson junction geometry, we show that microwave irradiation with frequency $\omega$ qualitatively alters the spectral properties of the system, controlling the minigap size $E_\text{ mg}$ and even replacing the minigap with a strong peak of quasiparticle accumulation at zero energy when $\omega=E_\text{ mg}$. The interaction between light and Cooper pairs may thus open a route to active control of quantum coherent phenomena in superconducting proximity structures.
Categories: cond-mat.supr-con