Light-induced antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic phase transition in Pr0.6La0.1Ca0.3MnO3 thin films

The effect of light of He-Ne (lambda = 633 nm) and Ar (lambda = 488 nm) las ers on the magnetization of epitaxial films of manganite Pr0.6La0.1Ca0.3MnO 3 was studied. It has been found that the illumination stimulates the antif erromagnetic-ferromagnetic phase transition observed in this manganite in a magnetic field at low temperature. In a magnetic field, the light induces the magnetization increase that apparently is related to a partial transfor mation of an antiferromagnetic phase into a ferromagnetic one and a formati on of ferromagnetic clusters within the antiferromagnetic phase. It was obs erved that a linearly polarized light effects stronger on the magnetic stat e of Pr0.6La0.1Ca0.3MnO3 films than an unpolarized light. A relaxation of t he light-induced state was not defected. The photoexcited state is stable o r a long-lived metastable one. [S0163-1829(99)01637-9].