Photoinduced phase separation inBi0.4Ca0.6MnO3thin films

Abstract
In this paper, we report a study of photoinduced and current-induced resistivity changes in Bi0.4Ca0.6MnO3 thin films. The photoinduced effects were investigated using both far-field and near-field optical techniques. It was found that substrate-induced strain affects the stability of the charge ordering. The magnitude of the energy barrier separating the metastable conducting phase and the charge-ordered insulating phase estimated from the temperature dependence of the lifetime of the photoinduced conducting phase was found to be large, of the order of the charge-ordering temperature.