Electronic Properties of Fully Strained La_{1- x} Sr _x MnO₃ Thin Films Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (0.15 ≤ x ≤ 0.45)

The structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of Sr-hole-doped epitaxial La_1-x Sr _x MnO₃ (0.15 ≤ x ≤ 0.45) thin films deposited using the molecular beam epitaxy technique on 4° vicinal STO (001) substrates are probed by the combination of X-ray diffraction and various synchrotron-based spectroscopy techniques. The structural characterizations evidence a significant shift in the LSMO (002) peak to the higher diffraction angles owing to the increase in Sr doping concentrations in thin films. The nature of the LSMO Mn mixed-valence state was estimated from X-ray photoemission spectroscopy together with the relative changes in the Mn L_2,3 edges observed in X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), both strongly affected by doping. CTM4XAS simulations at the XAS Mn L_2,3 edges reveal the combination of epitaxial strain, and different MnO₆ crystal field splitting give rise to a peak at ∼641 eV. The observed changes in the occupancy of the e_g and the t_2g orbitals as well as their binding energy positions toward the Fermi level with hole doping are discussed. The room-temperature magnetic properties were probed at the end by circular dichroism.