Light-induced bistability in spin transition solids leading to thermal and optical hysteresis

We investigate the behaviour of photo-excitable, bistable systems, under permanent light irradiation, in presence of relaxation towards the non-excited state. Cooperativity causes bistability of the steady state, leading to light-induced thermal and optical hysteresis (LITH and LIOH). The light-induced instability is expected to induce demixtion, i.e. the coexistence of domains of the two stable steady states. Such effects are evidenced by magnetic and reflectivity measurements on the spin-crossover solid solution: [Fe<Subscript>x</Subscript> , with x= 0.3, 0.5, 0.85. Experimental data are in quantitative agreement with a simple macroscopic model which includes a non-linear relaxation term in the master equation. Copyright EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag 1998