Electrical resistance and magnetoresistance of highly oriented and polycrystalline La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/MgO(001) thin films

Abstract

La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃ thin films exhibiting a highly (001)-plane oriented and polycrystalline structure with a variable amount of (011)-textured crystallites have been grown in situ by RF magnetron sputtering on crystalline MgO(001) substrates by changing deposition temperature from 550 to 800 °C. Competing contribution of grains and grain boundaries to resistivity and magnetoresistance of the films has been investigated at T = (78–330) K. A model based on two parallel channels of current flow across grain boundaries has been applied to explain coexistence of low (LFMR) and high field (HFMR) magnetoresistance effects in the polycrystalline films at low temperatures. The LFMR effect has been understood assuming tunnelling of spin-polarized carriers via magnetic field-driven tunnelling barriers formed naturally between neighbouring misoriented grains. Meanwhile, the HFMR phenomenon has been associated with magnetic field-dependent hopping of carriers via the intergrain regions with reduced carrier density. Importance of the phase separation phenomenon on possible inhomogeneity of the material at grain boundaries has been discussed.