Enhanced magneto-electrical properties and room temperature magnetoresistance in lightly doped manganite thin films

We report the effect of compressive strain on magnetic and magneto-electrical properties of lightly doped manganite La_0.88Sr_0.12MnO₃ thin films. Films, having 5-60 nm thickness, were grown on (001) LaAlO₃ and (001) SrTiO₃ substrate by DC-magnetron sputtering. These films show a magnetoresistance as high as ∼65% at room temperature and insulator-metal transition temperature . Further, we demonstrate that a small variation in strain causes significant changes in their properties. We have discussed the possible origin of these features and compared with the reported literature.