Strain-dependent magnetism and electrical conductivity of La(1-x)SrxSoO3 films

In this work, the effects of epitaxial strain and film thickness on the lattice structure, microstructure, magnetization and electrical conduction of La1-xSrxCoO3 (LSCO) (x = 0.18 and 0.30) thin films have been studied using thickness-dependent film series on several types of single-crystalline substrates. Alternatively, the direct effect of strain has been probed using a piezoelectric substrate. La0.7Sr0.3CoO3 is a ferromagnetic metal, whereas La0.82Sr0.18CoO3 is at the phase boundary between the ferromagnetic metal and an insulating spin glass phase. Epitaxial biaxial strain in La1-xSrxCoO3 (x = 0.18-0.3) films is known to reduce the ferromagnetic double exchange interactions. It has further been suggested for the control of the crystal field splitting of the Co ions which may be utilized to manipulate the spin state. The LSCO (x = 0.18 and 0.30) films have been grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on substrates of LaAlO3, SrTiO3, (PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3)0.72(PbTiO3)0.28 (PMN-PT) and (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2TaAlO6)0.7 (LSAT), which provide different strain states and, in the case of PMN-PT, a reversibly controllable strain. Thickness-dependent series of La0.82Sr0.18CoO3 on SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 as well as of La0.7Sr0.3CoO3 on LSAT have been studied. The lattice parameters of the epitaxially grown films were determined from X-ray diffraction measurements (Bragg-Brentano method and reciprocal space mapping). Large tensile strains of 2% can be achieved in thicker films of up to 100 nm. On the other hand, the films under larger tensile strain have cracks and reveal ordered superstructures in HRTEM images which are tentatively attributed to ordered oxygen vacancies. The Curie temperature and the magnetic moment of the x = 0.18 films increases towards larger film thickness in qualitative agreement with the joined effects of strain relaxation and finite thickness on magnetic ordering. In order to separate the direct strain effect from the thickness effect, the Curie temperature, the magnetic moment and the (rather large) coercivity of the films have been investigated in two electrically controlled strain states for a film on PMN-PT. Non-cracked, sufficiently thick x = 0.18 films show metallic behaviour with large magnetoresistance. The crack-free x = 0.3 films on LSAT undergo an insulator-to-metal transition with increasing thickness and also show large magnetoresistance, both consistent with a percolative transport behaviour. The spin state of the Co ions appears to remain unchanged in the investigated doping range