Photo-induced magnetism in perovskite-type Mn oxides investigated by using combinatorial methodology

We have investigated local magnetic properties of composition-spread Nd1 xSrxMnO3 (NSMO) films under irradiation, using a scanning SQUID microscope. As a result, we found that the stray field generated from domain boundaries was substantially enhanced by laser irradiation (l ¼ 532 nm), particularly in the ferromagnetic metal region at x < 0:5. The enhanced filed was maintained, at least, for several hours even after the interception of laser beam. This suggests that the presently observed photoinduced magnetism results from magnetic phase transition triggered by photons. # 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.