Abstract
A persistent photoinduced metal-to-insulator transition has been confirmed in a manganite thin film, , near a multicritical point by monitoring with transport measurements and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. Together with the previously reported reverse effect, the photoinduced insulator-to-metal transition, it is found that the relative stability of the metallic and insulating phases interchanges around 80 K in the middle of a very wide hysteresis loop, which is a manifestation of the large potential barrier due to the long-range elastic energy. It is shown that photons are much more effective in overcoming the barrier via the electronically excited intermediate states than via the heat mode.
- Received 10 July 2008
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.177403
©2008 American Physical Society