  We study how the color and polarization of ultrashort pulses of visible light
can be used to control the demagnetization processes of the antiferromagnetic
insulator Cr$_2$O$_3$. We utilize time-resolved second harmonic generation
(SHG) to probe how changes in the magnetic and structural state evolve in time.
We show that, varying the pump photon-energy to excite either localized
transitions within the Cr or charge transfer states, leads to markedly
different dynamics. Through a full polarization analysis of the SHG signal,
symmetry considerations and density functional theory calculations, we show
that, in the non-equilibrium state, SHG is sensitive to {\em both} lattice
displacements and changes to the magnetic order, which allows us to conclude
that different excited states couple to phonon modes of different symmetries.
Furthermore, the spin-scattering rate depends on the induced distortion,
enabling us to control the timescale for the demagnetization process. Our
results suggest that selective photoexcitation of antiferromagnetic insulators
allows fast and efficient manipulation of their magnetic state.
