  We report time-resolved measurements of the photoinduced change in
reflectivity, Delta R, in the Bi2Sr2Ca(1-y)Dy(y)Cu2O(8+delta) (BSCCO) system of
cuprate superconductors as a function of hole concentration. We find that the
kinetics of quasiparticle decay and the sign of Delta R both change abruptly
where the superconducting transition temperature Tc is maximal. These
coincident changes suggest that a sharp transition in quasiparticle dynamics
takes place precisely at optimal doping in the BSCCO system.
