Anisotropic magnetoresistance of partially relaxed SrRuO3 films

The SrRuO₃ films (50 nm thick) grown by laser evaporation on (001)(LaAlO₃)_0.3 + (Sr₂AlTaO₆)_0.7 substrates were under partially relaxed biaxial compressive mechanical stresses. The films consisted of crystallites with lateral dimensions of 40–100 nm and a relative azimuthal misorientation of about 0.9°. Ferromagnetic ordering of spins in the SrRuO₃ films was manifested by a change in the slope of the temperature dependence of their electrical resistivity ρ at T ≈ 155 K. For a magnetic field H parallel to the measuring current, the maximum values (∼7.5%) of the magnetoresistance MR = [ρ(μ₀ H = 5 T) − ρ(μ₀ H = 0)]/ρ(μ₀ H = 0) were observed at temperatures of about 100 K. At T = 95 K (μ₀ H = 5 T), the anisotropic magnetoresistance of the films was 8% and increased by a factor of approximately 1.5 with decreasing temperature to 4.2 K.     

Ferroelectric relaxor behaviour in Pb(Fe0.5Ta0.5)O3

The relaxor ferroelectric lead iron tantalate, Pb(Fe_0.5Ta_0.5)O₃ (PFT) is synthesized by Coulombite precursor method. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the sample at room temperature shows a cubic phase. The field dependence of dielectric response is measured in a frequency range 0.1 kHz — 1 MHz and in a temperature range from 173–373 K. The temperature dependence of permittivity (ɛ′) shows broad maxima at various frequencies. The frequency dependence of the permittivity maximum temperature (T _m ) has been modelled using Vogel-Fulcher relation.      

Variations in the electrical resistivity of La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 films and induced interconversions of ferromagnetic and nonferromagnetic inclusions in their bulk

A significant (∼1.8%) positive unit between the parameters of the crystal lattice is the reason of tetragonal distortion (a _⊥/a _‖ ≈ 1.04) and reduction in the volume of the unit cell of La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ films (15 nm) quasicoherently grown on the (001) surface of a LaAlO₃ substrate. The films consist of single-crystal blocks with the lateral size of 30–50 nm. The atomically smooth LaAlO₃-La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ interphase boundary has no misfit dislocations. At T = 4.2 K, the transformation of nonferromagnetic phase inclusions into ferromagnetic ones in a constant magnetic field H is accompanied by a stable reduction in the electrical resistivity ρ of manganite films with time, so that the curve ρ(t) is well approximated by the relationship ρ(t) ∼ ρ₁(t − t ₀)^1/2, (where t ₀ is the time for establishment of the specified value (μ₀ H = 5 T) of the magnetic field and ρ₁ is a coefficient independent of H). The magnetocrystalline anisotropy due to the elastic deformation of films by the substrate and stratification of electronic phases are the reasons of the distinct hysteresis in the dependences ρ(μ₀ H, T < 100 K) obtained on μ₀ H scanning in the sequence 5 T → 0 → −5 T → 0 → 5 T. At T = 50 K and μ₀ H = 0.4 T, the magnetoresistance MR = 100% [ρ(μ₀ H) − ρ(μ₀ H = 0)]/ρ(μ₀ H = 0) of LCMO films attains 150%.     

Optical studies of phase transitions in oxyfluoride (NH4)2NbOF5

Polarization-optical studies and measurements of the birefringence Δn and the angle of rotation of the optical indicatrix for the (NH₄)₂NbOF₅ crystal have been carried out in the temperature range 100–350 K. Two anomalies of the birefringence have been revealed at the temperatures T ₀₁ = 258 K and T ₀₂ ≈ 219 K. According to the twinning pattern, the crystal undergoes successive changes in symmetry: orthorhombic ↔ monoclinic 1 ↔ monoclinic 2. The twofold axis of the monoclinic phases (or the normal to the plane) is directed along [001]_or. The effect of the uniaxial compression along [011]_or and the electric field E ≈ 25 kV/cm along [100]_or on the twin structure has been studied. The ferroelastic phase transition at T ₀₁ is due to the appearance of the shear deformation x ₄(T) and is accompanied by significant anomalies of the birefringence. Strong pretransition phenomena mask the jumps in the birefringence Δn(T) and in the angle of rotation of the indicatrix φ(T) at T ₀₁.     

Magnetoresistance of La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 films the coherent growth of which is disturbed by mechanical stress relaxation

Because of a large (m = 1.8%) lattice mismatch between La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ and LaAlO₃, manganite films grown on a lanthanum aluminate substrate experience biaxial mechanical compression stresses. Strong adhesion to the substrate causes a substantial tetragonal distortion (γ ≈ 1.04) of the unit cell in a 20-nm-thick layer of the manganite film coherently grown on (001)LaAlO₃, while in the remaining part (≈75%) of the manganite film, stresses partially relax. The stress relaxation decreases γ and increases the effective volume of the unit cell of the La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ film. The relaxed part of the La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ film consists of crystallites 50–200 nm across azimuthally misoriented by approximately 0.3°. The temperature dependences of the resistivity and negative magnetoresistance of the manganite films exhibit maxima at 240 and 215 K, respectively. At temperatures below 50 K, the dependence of the resistivity on the magnetic induction taken with the induction varying from 0 to 14 T and vice versa becomes hysteresis.     

Intricacies of strain and magnetic field induced charge order melting in Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 thin films

Thin films of the half-doped manganite Pr_0.5Ca_0.5MnO₃ were grown on (1 0 0) oriented MgO substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. In order to study the effect of strain on the magnetic field induced charge order melting, films of different thicknesses were prepared and their properties were studied by X-ray diffraction, electrical resistivity and magnetoresistance measurements. A field induced charge order melting is observed for films with very small thicknesses. The charge order transition temperature and the magnetic field induced charge order melting are observed to depend on the nature of strain that is experienced by the film.     

Optical studies of phase transitions in the (NH4)3VO2F4 crystal

(NH₄)₃VO₂F₄ crystals were grown, and polarization-optical studies and measurements of birefringence were conducted on crystal plates of various cuts over a wide temperature range. Phase transitions were detected at temperatures T _1↑ = 417 K, T _3↑ = 211 K, and T _4↑ = 205 K (on heating) and at T _1↓ = 413 K, T _3↓ = 210 K, and T _4↓ = 200 K (on cooling). The transitions are accompanied by anomalies of the birefringence and by twinning. The sequence of changes in the phase symmetry is assumed to be as follows: cubic Fm m ↔ orthorhombic Immm (I222₁) ↔ monoclinic 112/m) ↔ triclinic P . Near temperatures T ₂ ≈ 240–250 K, an additional anomaly of the birefringence is observed, with the crystal retaining the orthorhombic symmetry. Original Russian Text ? S.V. Mel’nikova, A G. Kocharova, 2009, published in Fizika Tverdogo Tela, 2009, Vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 562–564.     

Study of magnetoresistance and conductance of bicrystal grain boundary in La0.67Ba0.33MnO3 thin film

La_0.67Ba_0.33MnO₃ (LBMO) thin film is deposited on a 36.7°C SrTiO₃ bicrystal substrate using laser ablation technique. A microbridge is created across bicrystal grain boundary and its characteristics are compared with a microbridge on the LBMO film having no grain boundary. Presence of grain boundary exhibits substantial magnetoresistance ratio (MRR) in the low field and low temperature region. Bicrystal grain boundary contribution in MRR disappears at temperature T>175 K. At low temperature, I-V characteristic of the microbridge across bicrystal grain boundary is nonlinear. Analysis of temperature dependence of dynamic conductance-voltage characteristics of the bicrystal grain boundary indicates that at low temperatures (T<175 K) carrier transport across the grain boundary in LBMO film is dominated by inelastic tunneling via pairs of manganese atoms and tunneling through disordered oxides. At higher temperatures (T>175 K), magnetic scattering process is dominating. Decrease of bicrystal grain boundary contribution in magnetoresistance with the increase in temperature is due to enhanced spin-flip scattering process.     

钙钛矿(La1-yTby)0.67Sr0.33MnO3的超巨磁电阻效应

采用固相反应烧结法制成了钙钛矿(La_1-yTb_y)_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃(y=0—1)多晶样品.研究了样品的微观结构,常温、低温下的磁性,样品的磁电阻随温度、成分的变化关系,电阻随温度变化特性等.并在y=0.40样品中,170K附近、最大磁化场为7T时,观察到了900%的巨磁电阻. 关键词：     

Structure and magneto-transport parameters of partially relaxed and coherently grown La0.67Ba0.33MnO3 films

X-ray diffraction (XRD) and medium-energy ion scattering (MEIS) have been used to reveal distortions in the crystal lattice of La_0.67Ba_0.33MnO₃ (LBMO) films formed in relaxation of mechanical stresses. The LBMO films 25 nm thick have been prepared by laser deposition. The XRD and MEIS data obtained suggest that biaxially and mechanically elastically stressed LBMO layers grow coherently on LSATO substrates, whose crystal lattice parameter differs only weakly from the corresponding LBMO parameter, whereas in the bulk of manganite films grown on LaAlO₃ substrates, stresses relax partially. Stresses do not relax in the LBMO interface about 4 nm thick adjoining LaAlO₃. The electro- and magneto-transport parameters of partially relaxed LBMO films have been compared with those obtained for coherently grown manganite films with approximately the same tetragonal distortion of the lattice cell (a _⊥/a _‖ = 1.024–1.030; a _‖ and a _⊥ are the unit cell parameters in the substrate plane and normal to it, respectively). At temperatures substantially lower than the Curie temperature, the electrical resistivity ρ of LBMO films fits the relation ρ = ρ₀ + ρ₁ T ² + ρ₂(H)T ^4.5; the coefficients ρ₀ and ρ₁ do not depend on temperature T and magnetic field, and ρ₂ does not depend on temperature but almost linearly decreases with increasing magnetic field strength H. The coefficient ρ₂ for partially relaxed LBMO films is substantially larger than that for coherently grown manganite layers.     

Surface and transport studies on La0.7Ba0.3MnO3:SnO2 bilayer

We report on study of morphology, optical contrast and transport characteristics of La_0.7Ba_0.3MnO₃ (LBMO) manganite thin films bilayered with SnO₂ on Si (0 0 1) substrate, synthesized using pulsed laser deposition system. X-ray diffraction study reveals that both LBMO and SnO₂ show polycrystalline growth over the substrate. Atomic force microscopy shows interesting pyramidal structures of LBMO of size ∼2 μm × 1 μm × 0.1 μm. On the other hand, SnO₂ grows in the form of close packed cylindrical clusters of ∼200 nm radius. Near-field optical microscopy (NSOM) study using 532 nm laser reveal that optical NSOM output intensity in LBMO is four times less than SnO₂ signal. Transport characterizations show that this bilayer configuration exhibit non-linear current-voltage characteristics from 300 upto 50 K. The nature becomes linear below this temperature. The results project the system as a promising candidate in non-conventional device category in the area of spintronics.     

Low temperature magnetoresistance in La1.32Sr1.68Mn2O7 layered manganite under hydrostatic pressure

The La_1.32Sr_1.68Mn₂O₇ layered manganite system has been studied by the low temperature electrical resistance and magnetoresistance under hydrostatic pressure up to 25 kbar. We have observe both, a Curie temperature (T_C) and a metal-insulator transition (T_MI) at 118 K in the ambient pressure. The applied pressure shifts the T_MI to higher temperature values and induces a second metal-insulator transition (T²_MI) at 90 K, in the temperature dependence of resistivity measurements. Also, the pressure suppresses the peak resistance abruptly at T_C. When an external field of 5 T is applied, we have observed a large negative magnetoresistance of 300% at the transition temperature and a 128% at 4.5 K. However, the increased pressure decreases the magnetoresistance ratio gradually. When the pressure reaches its maximum available value of 25 kbar, the magnetoresistance ratio decreases at a rate of 1.3%/kbar. From our experimental results, the decrease of magnetoresistance ratio with pressure is explained by the pressure induced canted spin state which is not favor for the spin polarized intergrain tunneling in layered manganites.     

In-situ strain effect on extrinsic transport of polycrystalline La0.7(Ca,Sr)0.3MnO3 films

The spin-polarised transport in ferromagnetic polycrystalline La_0.7(Sr,Ca)_0.3MnO₃ films on piezoelectric substrate has been investigated. The systematic study involved in finding the effect of in-situ strain on extrinsic electrical transport of various thick polycrystalline La_0.7(Sr,Ca)_0.3MnO₃ thin films. The in-situ strain in the manganite polycrystalline thin film is achieved by applying an electric field to the piezoelectric substrate 0.72 Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-0.28 PbTiO₃ (PMN-PT). A reversible strain of about 0.11% is acquired with an application of 10 kV/cm to the piezoelectric substrate. A typical drop in resistance at low magnetic fields has been found in all the polycrystalline manganite films. The effect of reversible strain versus the resultant strain gauges was discussed in all the polycrystalline films. At low temperatures, the effect of strain on low-field magnetoresistance and high-field magnetoresistance was found to be negligible. Further, the results are compared with the transport in manganite films deposited on step edge junctions.     

Phase transitions in [Ni(NH3)6](NO3)2

Electric permittivity ^* = ′ − i″ of nickel-hexammino nitrate (NHN) has been measured within the range of temperature from 9 to 300 K at a frequency of 8.8 GHz (X-band). It has been found that the phase transitions at T_k1 = 247 K and T_k2 = 90 K are discontinuous structural transitions between centrosymmetric phases, whereas the transition at T_c = 63 K is a continuous phase transition (glass?).     

Vortex pinning in YBa2Cu3O7?x films

Evidence that pinning on linear or planar defects dominates the vortex dynamics in YBa₂Cu₃O_7−x (YBCO) films is provided by complex impedance measurements at temperature 8 K<T<T _c and magnetic field 0<B<6 T. Below the vortex lattice melting transition B_g(T) but above a threshold field B_p≈8(1-T/T _c ) T, the inductance of vortices increases as B², much less rapidly than predicted for collective pinning of vortices by point defects. Above the vortex melting line, critical scaling persists over the region B_g(T<B<B^*(T) where the vortex correlation length ξ exceeds a characteristic length scale ξ^*≡ξ(B=B^*)≈450?. The value of ξ^* is not sensitive to Al-doping in the Cu sites in the lattice and is close to the size of twin domains in the film. The nature of the observed crossovers is discussed in terms of available theoretical models for a glass-liquid transition at B_g.     

Oxygen pressure dependent electroresistance in La0.9Sr0.1MnO3 thin films grown by laser molecular beam epitaxy

We report here studies on the influence of oxygen pressure on the electroresistance behavior of La_0.9Sr_0.1MnO₃ thin films fabricated by laser molecular beam epitaxy. It was found that the film deposited at lower oxygen pressure shows larger c-axis parameter, higher resistance, and more distinct electroresistance. These results reveal that the electroresistance of manganite thin films can be tuned by the conditions of film fabrication. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 10334070) and the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2004CB619004)     

Electrical properties of thin films of Eu2O3 substituted compounds

Europium oxide (Eu₂O₃) substituted compound has been prepared by solid-solid reaction of the powders of Eu₂O₃, BaCO₃ and CuO at 950°C for 16 hours. The thin films have been deposited by high vacuum evaporation technique (vacuum ≈ 10⁻⁶ torr). The variation of current (I) with voltage (V) at room temperature (RT) i.e. 294 K and in ice (273 K) are found to be linear. The variation of electrical resistivity (ρ) with temperature (T) by heating the sample above RT has been determined. Resistivity is found to decrease with increase in temperature. Further the variation of electrical resistivity (ρ) with temperature (T) from 77 K, liquid nitrogen temperature (LNT), to 270 K has also been determined. It is observed that resistivity suddenly becomes zero at around 87 K. Thus the prepared material has superconducting properties with superconducting transition temperature, T _c at 87 K.      

Magnetic and transport properties of monocrystalline<Emphasis Type="Italic">Fe</Emphasis><Subscript>3</Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">O</Emphasis><Subscript>4</Subscript>

A monocrystal ofFe ₃ O ₄ is characterized by resistance, magnetoresistance and magnetic measurements in a temperature range from 4.2 K to 350 K and magnetic field-cycling from −9 T to 9 T. The resistance measurements revealed a metal-insulator Verwey transition (VT) atT _v =123.76 K with activation energy E=92.5 meV at T >T _v and temperature-substitute for the activation energy below the VT,T ₀=E/k _B ≈3800 K within 70 K–110K. The magnetotransport results independently verified the VT at 123.70 K, with discontinuous change in the magnetic moment ΔM≈0.21 ΔM≈0.21μ _B and resistance hysteresis, dependent on the magnetic field in a narrow temperature range of 0.4° around theT _v . The magnetic characterization established self consistentlyT _v as ≈123.67 K, the jump in the magnetization at the VT≈0.25μ _B and confirmed, that the magnetocrystalline anisotropy is the main microscopic mechanism responsible for the magnetization of the monocrystal (88%) with additional natural and imposed defects contributing as 12%.     

相分离Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3体系的再入型自旋玻璃行为和电荷有序

研究了Nd_0.5Ca_0.5MnO₃体系的结构和输运特性. 结构 分析表明，在300K下，体系表现为O′型正交结构并存在典型的Jahn-Teller畸变.在8 T磁场 下，体系出现顺磁绝缘-铁磁金属的转变，庞磁电阻效应发生. 磁测量发现，样品的奈尔温 度T_N和电荷有序转变温度T_CO分别在150和240K左右，在41K左右出 现典型再入型自旋玻璃行为，同时观察到了负的磁化率异常. 结果表明，Nd关键词： 庞磁电阻 自旋玻璃态 负磁化强度 电荷有序     

Structural characterization of La0.9Ba0.1MnO3/Y-ZrO2 film by X-ray diffraction

Perovskite manganite La_0.9Ba_0.1MnO₃(LBMO) films were deposited on (0 0 1)-oriented single crystal yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrate by 90° off-axis radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The film thickness ranged from 10 nm to 100 nm. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction technique and high resolution X-ray diffraction were applied to characterize the structure of LBMO films. The LBMO film mainly consisted of (0 0 1)-orientated grain as well as weakly textured (1 1 0)-orientated grain. The results indicated that an amorphous layer with thickness of about 4 nm was formed at the LBMO/YSZ interface. The strain in LBMO film was small and averaged to be about -0.14%. The strain in the film was not lattice mismatch-induced strain but residual strain due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between film and substrate.