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Effect of silver doping on the surface of La5/8Ca3/8MnO3 epitaxial films

Authors :
Arthur P. Baddorf
Sergei V. Kalinin
Rama K. Vasudevan
Alexander Tselev
Source :
Applied Physics Letters. 105:101602
Publication Year :
2014
Publisher :
AIP Publishing, 2014.

Abstract

Thin film manganese oxides (manganites) display remarkable properties, such as colossal magnetoresistance and charge ordered phases, and became a focal point of research in the past two decades owing to potential applications ranging from oxide spintronics to resistive switching-based memories. LaxCa1−xMnO3 (LCMO), a widely studied manganite, is known to substantially improve its transport properties when doped with Ag. However, despite the abundance of studies on LCMO, the effect of silver on the surface structure is unknown. Here, through in-situ methods, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is performed on La5/8Ca3/8MnO3 films grown by pulsed laser deposition. Films doped by silver, as confirmed by in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, display large-scale reconstructions, interpreted as being of type (√10 × √10)R18.4°, while films lacking silver display a (√2 × √2)R45° reconstruction that may be associated with a surface charge-ordered state. It is posited that the possible cause of the varied reconstructions is due to a vacancy ordering on top of the existing (√2 × √2)R45° reconstruction. These studies highlight the influence of Ag on the surface structure, and therefore a route towards modifying the surface properties of manganites.

Details

ISSN :
10773118 and 00036951
Volume :
105
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Applied Physics Letters
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........74746bed4138714e743ad11b0491795e
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4895026