The properties of half-metallic manganite thin films depend on the composition and structure in the atomic scale, and consequently, their potential functional behavior can only be based on fine structure characterization. By combining advanced transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, density functional theory calculations, and multislice image simulations, we obtained evidence of a 7 nm-thick interface layer in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) thin films, compatible with the formation of well-known dead layers in manganites, with an elongated out-of-plane lattice parameter and structural and electronic properties well distinguished from the bulk of the film. We observed, for the first time, a structural shift of Mn ions coupled with oxygen vacancies and a reduced Mn valence state within such layer. Understanding the correlation between oxygen vacancies, the Mn oxidation state, and Mn-ion displacements is a prerequisite to engineer the magnetotransport properties of LSMO thin films.

Evidence of Mn-Ion Structural Displacements Correlated with Oxygen Vacancies in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 Interfacial Dead Layers / P. Rajak, D. Knez, S. Kumar Chaluvadi, P. Orgiani, G. Rossi, L. Méchin, R. Ciancio. - In: ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES. - ISSN 1944-8244. - (2021 Nov), pp. 1-10. [Epub ahead of print] [10.1021/acsami.1c15599]

Evidence of Mn-Ion Structural Displacements Correlated with Oxygen Vacancies in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 Interfacial Dead Layers

G. Rossi;
2021

Abstract

The properties of half-metallic manganite thin films depend on the composition and structure in the atomic scale, and consequently, their potential functional behavior can only be based on fine structure characterization. By combining advanced transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, density functional theory calculations, and multislice image simulations, we obtained evidence of a 7 nm-thick interface layer in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) thin films, compatible with the formation of well-known dead layers in manganites, with an elongated out-of-plane lattice parameter and structural and electronic properties well distinguished from the bulk of the film. We observed, for the first time, a structural shift of Mn ions coupled with oxygen vacancies and a reduced Mn valence state within such layer. Understanding the correlation between oxygen vacancies, the Mn oxidation state, and Mn-ion displacements is a prerequisite to engineer the magnetotransport properties of LSMO thin films.
aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, dead layer, EELS and EDS, oxygen vacancy, density functional theory (DFT), multislice image simulation;
Settore FIS/03 - Fisica della Materia
nov-2021
10-nov-2021
Article (author)
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/882258
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