Growth of atomically smooth thin films of the electronically phase separated manganite (La$_{0.5}$Pr$_{0.5}$)$_{0.67}$Ca$_{0.33}$MnO$_{3}$

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the growth of atomically smooth, epitaxial thin films of a phase-separated manganite on NdGaO3 substrates, highlighting the importance of oxygen pressure in optimizing their physical properties.

Contribution

It introduces a method to produce high-quality, atomically flat thin films of a complex manganite with controlled oxygen pressure during growth, improving their physical characteristics.

Findings

Optimal oxygen pressure enhances film quality and physical properties.

Oxygen pressure influences vacancy formation and grain boundary development.

High-quality films exhibit superior transport and magnetic behavior.

Abstract

Atomically flat, epitaxial, and stoichiometric thin films of the electronically phase separated compound (La$_{0.5}$Pr$_{0.5}$)$_{0.67}$Ca$_{0.33}$MnO$_{3}$ were grown on as-received and treated NdGaO$_{3}$ substrates by fine tuning of oxygen pressure during deposition. Optimal thin films with step flow growth mode show superior physical properties compared to thin films grown in off-optimal oxygen pressures, {\em viz.} the highest maximum temperature coefficient of resistance, the highest peak-resistivity temperature, and reduced coercive fields. Transport, magnetization, and x-ray diffraction measurements indicate that the oxygen pressure during growth plays a critical role in the formation of oxygen vacancies, cation vacancies, and grain boundaries.