Conditions for the growth of smooth La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 thin films by pulsed electron ablation

• We report on the optimisation of the growth conditions of manganite La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 thin films prepared by Channel Spark Ablation (CSA). CSA belongs to pulsed electron deposition methods and its energetic and deposition parameters are quite similar to those of pulsed laser deposition. The method has been already proven to provide manganite films with good magnetic properties, but the films were generally relatively rough (a few nm coarseness). Here we show that increasing the oxygen deposition pressure with respect to previously used regimes, reduces the surface roughness down to unit cell size while maintaining a robust magnetism. We analyse in detail the effect of other deposition parameters, like accelerating voltage, discharging energy, chamber pressure and substrate temperature and provide on this basis a set of optimal conditions for the growth of atomically flat films. The thicknesses for which atomically flat surface was achieved is as high as about 10-20 nm, corresponding to films with room temperature magnetism. We believe such magnetic layers represent appealing and suitable electrodes for various spintronic devices. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Oorganisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Inorganic Chemistry (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Materialkemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Materials Chemistry (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Den kondenserade materiens fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Condensed Matter Physics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Pulsed electron beam deposition

Magnetoresistance

Atomically flat

Manganese perovskite

Channel-spark

Thin film

Lanthanum strontium manganite

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