Effect of interfacial octahedral behavior in ultrathin manganite films

E J Moon; P V Balachandran; B J Kirby; D J Keavney; R J Sichel-Tissot; C M Schlepütz; E Karapetrova; X M Cheng; J M Rondinelli; S J May

doi:10.1021/nl500235f

Effect of interfacial octahedral behavior in ultrathin manganite films

Nano Lett. 2014 May 14;14(5):2509-14. doi: 10.1021/nl500235f. Epub 2014 Apr 10.

Authors

E J Moon¹, P V Balachandran, B J Kirby, D J Keavney, R J Sichel-Tissot, C M Schlepütz, E Karapetrova, X M Cheng, J M Rondinelli, S J May

Affiliation

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States.

PMID: 24697503
DOI: 10.1021/nl500235f

Abstract

We investigate structural coupling of the MnO6 octahedra across a film/substrate interface and the resultant changes of the physical properties of ultrathin La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 (LSMO) films. In order to isolate the effect of interfacial MnO6 octahedral behavior from that of epitaxial strain, LSMO films are grown on substrates with different symmetry and similar lattice parameters. Ultrathin LSMO films show an increased magnetization and electrical conductivity on cubic (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2AlTaO6)0.7 (LSAT) compared to those grown on orthorhombic NdGaO3 (NGO) substrates, an effect that subsides as the thickness of the films is increased. This study demonstrates that interfacial structural coupling can play a critical role in the functional properties of oxide heterostructures.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.