A transient lateral photovoltaic effect (LPVE) has been observed in p-La0.7Sr0.3MnO3∕n-Si heterojunctions. Under the nonuniform irradiation of a pulsed laser, the LPVE shows high sensitivity to the spot position on the La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 surface. A mechanism based on the well established model for the LPVE in conventional semiconductors has been applied to explain the LPVE in the heteroepitaxial junctions of perovskite-type metal oxides. The large LPVE in the heteroepitaxial junctions is expected to make the perovskite-type metal oxide a new and faster candidate for position-sensitive photodetectors.

Ultrafast photoelectric effects have been observed in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3∕Si p-n junctions fabricated by laser molecular-beam epitaxy. The rise time was ∼210ps and the full width at half-maximum was ∼650ps for the photovoltaic pulse when the junction was irradiated by a 1064nm laser pulse of 25ps duration. The photovoltaic sensitivity was as large as 435mV∕mJ for a 1064nm laser pulse. No such photovoltaic signal was observed with irradiation from a 10.6μm CO2 laser pulse. The results reveal that this phenomenon is an ultrafast photoelectric effect.