  Quantum materials are amenable to non-equilibrium manipulation with light,
enabling modification and control of macroscopic properties. Light-based
augmentation of superconductivity is particularly intriguing. Copper-oxide
superconductors exhibit complex interplay between spin order, charge order and
superconductivity, offering the prospect of enhanced coherence by altering the
balance between competing orders. We utilize terahertz time domain spectroscopy
to monitor the c-axis Josephson Plasma Resonance (JPR) in
La$_{2-x}$Ba$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ (x = 0.115) as a direct probe of superconductivity
dynamics following excitation with near infrared pulses. Starting from the
superconducting state, c-axis polarized excitation with a fluence of 100
$\mu$J/cm2 results in an increase of the far-infrared spectral weight by more
than an order of magnitude as evidenced by a blueshift of the JPR, interpreted
as resulting from non-thermal collapse of the charge order. The photo-induced
signal persists well beyond our measurement window of 300 ps and exhibits
signatures of spatial inhomogeneity. The electrodynamic response of this new
metastable state is consistent with enhanced superconducting fluctuations. Our
results reveal that La$_{2-x}$Ba$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ is highly sensitive to
non-equilibrium excitation over a wide fluence range, providing an unambiguous
example of photo-induced modification of order-parameter competition.
