Light-induced antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic phase transition in ${\mathrm{Pr}}_{0.6}{\mathrm{La}}_{0.1}{\mathrm{Ca}}_{0.3}{\mathrm{MnO}}_3$ thin films

The effect of light of He-Ne $(\lambda =633\mathrm{}$ nm) and Ar $(\lambda =488\mathrm{}$ nm) lasers on the magnetization of epitaxial films of manganite ${\mathrm{Pr}}_{0.6}{\mathrm{La}}_{0.1}{\mathrm{Ca}}_{0.3}{\mathrm{MnO}}_3$ was studied. It has been found that the illumination stimulates the antiferromagnetic-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 transformation of an antiferromagnetic phase into a ferromagnetic one and a formation of ferromagnetic clusters within the antiferromagnetic phase. It was observed that a linearly polarized light effects stronger on the magnetic state of ${\mathrm{Pr}}_{0.6}{\mathrm{La}}_{0.1}{\mathrm{Ca}}_{0.3}{\mathrm{MnO}}_3$ films than an unpolarized light. A relaxation of the light-induced state was not detected. The photoexcited state is stable or a long-lived metastable one.