  We have studied magnetic and transport properties on different manganese
oxide based compounds exhibiting phase separation: polycrystalline
La5/8-yPryCa3/8MnO3 (y=0.3) and La1/2Ca1/2Mn1-zFezO3 (z = 0.05), and single
crystals of La5/8-yPryCa3/8MnO3 (y=0.35). Time dependent effects indicate that
the fractions of the coexisting phases are dynamically changing in a definite
temperature range. We found that in this range the ferromagnetic fraction f can
be easily tuned by application of low magnetic fields (< 1 T). The effect is
persistent after the field is turned off, thus the field remains imprinted in
the actual value of f and can be recovered through transport measurements. This
effect is due both to the existence of a true phase separated equilibrium state
with definite equilibrium fraction f0, and to the slow growth dynamics. The
fact that the same global features were found on different compounds and in
polycrystalline and single crystalline samples, suggests that the effect is a
general feature of some phase separated media.
