Structural and electrical characterisation of La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

Thin films of perovskite manganite, with nominal composition La_0.5Ca_0.5MnO₃, have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition on (1 0 0) SrTiO₃, (1 0 0) LaAlO₃, (1 0 0) Si and YSZ/CeO₂-buffered (1 0 0) Si substrates. Structural and electrical characterisation was performed on the films. The magneto-transport properties of all the thin films depart from the bulk behaviour. The LCMO film grown on buffered Si shows an insulator–metallic transition around 130–150 K while the one deposited directly on Si displayed a similar behaviour under a melting field of 1 T. However, that transition is absent in the films grown on LAO and STO. We suggest that appropriate stress values induced by the substrate favour the formation of metallic percolative paths.