Silver ion implantation in epitaxial La[sub 2/3]Ca[sub 1/3]MnO[sub 3] thin films: Large temperature coefficient of resistance for bolometric applications.

Epitaxial films of La[sub 2/3]Ca[sub 1/3]MnO[sub 3] were successively implanted with 100 and 200 keV silver ions at fluences of 4.5x10[sup 15] and 1x10[sup 16] ions/cm[sup 2], respectively, to achieve a fairly uniform implant distribution. The as-implanted films are insulating and do not show a metal-insulator transition. Postimplantation annealing at 950 °C shows a recovery of the high structural quality of the films, along with an increase in the metal-insulator transition temperature (T[sub p]), magnetoresistance, and the peak temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) at the transition. The peak TCR of 23% for manganite films is clearly significant for bolometric applications. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]