Energy relaxation in (La0.6Pr0.4)0.7Ca0.3MnO3 films across the metal-insulator transition

The colossal magnetoresistive manganite ${({\mathrm{La}}_0.6{\mathrm{Pr}}_0.4)}_0.7{\mathrm{Ca}}_0.3{\mathrm{MnO}}₃$ (LPCMO) undergoes a ferromagnetic (FM) metal to paramagnetic insulator phase transition at around 195 K, which develops via an intermediate polaronic state strongly susceptible to external magnetic fields. Transient reflectivity studies of LPCMO on timescales from sub-picoseconds to nanoseconds reveal that the overall system dynamics are strongly influenced by the phase transition with a sharp and strong decrease in the relaxation time while crossing from the ferromagnetic metallic phase into the paramagnetic insulating phase. We show that the long relaxation times of the reflectivity after nonequilibrium excitation within the FM phase are caused by the slow recovery of the ordered FM state after laser-induced demagnetization. Control of the nonequilibrium dynamics close to the phase transition is demonstrated by applying moderate magnetic fields below 1 T.