Photoinduced Metal-to-Insulator Transition in a Manganite Thin Film

A persistent photoinduced metal-to-insulator transition has been confirmed in a manganite thin film, ${\mathrm{Pr}}_{0.55}({\mathrm{Ca}}_{0.75}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{0.25}{)}_{0.45}{\mathrm{MnO}}_{3}$, 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.