Non-equilibrium conditions may lead to novel properties of materials with
broken symmetry ground states not accessible in equilibrium as vividly
demonstrated by non-linearly driven mid-infrared active phonon excitation.
Potential energy surfaces of electronically excited states also allow to
direct nuclear motion, but relaxation of the excess energy typically excites
fluctuations leading to a reduced or even vanishing order parameter as
characterized by an electronic energy gap. Here, using femtosecond time- and
angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we demonstrate a tendency towards
transient stabilization of a charge density wave after near-infrared
excitation, counteracting the suppression of order in the non-equilibrium
state. Analysis of the dynamic electronic structure reveals a remaining energy
gap in a highly excited transient state. Our observation can be explained by a
competition between fluctuations in the electronically excited state, which
tend to reduce order, and transiently enhanced Fermi surface nesting
stabilizing the order
