Stabilization of the metallic state by electric currents in phase-separated manganite thin films

We present the evidence that electric current stabilizes the metallic phase in a metal or insulator phase-separated manganite film. Simultaneous IR transmission measurement, which reflects the average metal or insulator ratio, reveals that the observed resistance near the metal to insulator transition is governed by a filamentary path occupying an insignificant fraction of the total volume. This allowed us to access the behavior of a single mesoscopic metallic path under a varying current strength via macroscopic resistance measurement.