Orientation dependence of the Schottky barrier height for La$_0.6$Sr$_0.4$MnO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ heterojunctions

TL;DR

This study investigates how the crystallographic orientation of La$_{0.6}$Sr$_{0.4}$MnO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ heterojunctions affects their Schottky barrier height and magnetic properties, revealing orientation-dependent performance implications for magnetic devices.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of the orientation dependence of Schottky barrier height and magnetic enhancement in LSMO/SrTiO$_3$ heterojunctions.

Findings

Schottky barrier height is independent of substrate orientation (001) and (110).

(110) oriented LSMO films exhibit enhanced magnetic properties.

Using (110)-oriented substrates can improve magnetic device performance.

Abstract

The authors report on the crystallographic orientation dependence of the Schottky properties for heterojunctions between a half-metallic ferromagnet La$_0.6$Sr$_0.4$MnO$_3$ (LSMO) and Nb-doped SrTiO3 semiconductor. The Schottky barrier height determined by in situ photoemission measurements is independent for the substrate orientations (001) and (110), while the magnetic properties of LSMO (110) films are more enhanced than for (001) films. These results suggest that the performance of magnetic devices based on ferromagnetic manganite is improved by using (110)-oriented substrates.