Persistent photoinduced magnetization in the coexisting spin-glass and ferromagnetic phases of Pr0.9Ca0.1MnO3 thin film

The persistent photoinduced magnetization (PPM) in the low bandwidth material Pr1-xCaxMnO3 at the low hole doping level of x = 0.1 is reported. Upon zero-field cooling under photoexcitation, significant improvement of the ferromagnetic (FM) ordering was observed in the low temperature spin-glass phase. However, upon field cooling, the FM ordering was found to be suppressed due to weakening of the double-exchange interaction. High kinetic energy x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements indicated a slight increase in the Mn3+ peak under photoexcitation which clarifies the weakening of the FM interaction. The fast relaxation of the PPM is discussed in view of localization of spin polarons in sites of magnetic disorders and the results are compared with previous reports of PPM in intermediate bandwidth La0.9Ca0.1MnO3 samples. (paper)