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Highly dense and compositionally inhomogeneous nano-agglomerates in an epitaxial La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 thin film grown on (100)SrTiO3

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2005

Y.L. Zhu ,
X.L. Ma ,
D.X. Li ,
H.B. Lu ,
Z.H. Chen  and
G.Z. Yang
Y.L. Zhu
Affiliation:
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, People's Republic of China
X.L. Ma*
Affiliation:
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, People's Republic of China
D.X. Li
Affiliation:
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, People's Republic of China
H.B. Lu
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Optical Physics, Institute of Physics & Center for Condensed Matter Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, People's Republic of China
Z.H. Chen
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Optical Physics, Institute of Physics & Center for Condensed Matter Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, People's Republic of China
G.Z. Yang
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Optical Physics, Institute of Physics & Center for Condensed Matter Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, People's Republic of China
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: xlma@imr.ac.cn
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Abstract

Microstructures in the thin film of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 grown on (100) SrTiO3 by laser molecular beam epitaxy were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Highly dense and dimensionally uniform nano-agglomerates were found embedded in thin film of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3. High-angle angular dark-field imaging, elemental mapping, and compositional analysis revealed that the nano-agglomerates are rich in manganese and poor in lanthanum. The ratio of Mn/La in the nano-agglomerates fluctuates. A salient feature of this compositional fluctuation within the nanoscale isthe formation of cubic MnO phase, which appears as the core of the nano-agglomerates.The La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 film is domain-oriented and two domains were identified on the basis of orthorhombic lattice. The orientation relationships between La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 domains and MnO were determined as [010]LSMO,1//[001]MnO and (100)LSMO,1//(110)MnO; [101]LSMO,2//[001]MnO and (010)LSMO,2//(100)MnO. The domain structuresand compositional inhomogeneities within nanoscale result in a textured microstructure, which is one of the most important parameters for tuning electronic properties in colossal magnetoresistance oxides.

Keywords

CeramicMicrostructureTransmission electron microscopy (TEM)
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , March 2005 , pp. 571 - 579
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2005

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