Structural, magnetic and electronic properties of pulsed-laser-deposition grown SrFeO3-δ thin films and SrFeO3-δ/La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 multilayers

Abstract

We studied the structural, magnetic and electronic properties of SrFeO3-delta (SFO) thin films and SrFeO3-delta/La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 (LCMO) superlattices that have been grown with pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on La0.3Sr0.7Al0.65Ta0.35O3 (LSAT) substrates. X-ray reflectometry and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) confirm the high structural quality of the films and flat and atomically sharp interfaces of the superlattices. The STEM data also reveal a difference in the interfacial layer stacking with a SrO layer at the LCMO/SFO and a LaO layer at the SFO/LCMO interfaces along the PLD growth direction. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) data suggest that the as grown SFO films and SFO/LCMO superlattices have an oxygen-deficient SrFeO3-delta structure with I4/mmm space group symmetry (delta <= 0.2). Subsequent ozone annealed SFO films are consistent with an almost oxygen stoichiometric structure (delta approximate to 0). The electronic and magnetic properties of these SFO films are similar to the ones of corresponding single crystals. In particular, the as grown SrFeO3-delta films are insulating whereas the ozone annealed films are metallic. The magneto-resistance effects of the as grown SFO films have a similar magnitude as in the single crystals, but extend over a much wider temperature range. Last but not least, for the SFO/LCMO superlattices we observe a rather large exchange bias effect that varies as a function of the cooling field.