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Role of boundaries on low-field magnetotransport properties of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3-based nanocomposite thin films

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Abstract

The effects of boundaries such as grain boundaries and phase boundaries on low-field magnetoresistance (LFMR) have been investigated in single-phase lanthanum strontium manganates, in this case La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) and LSMO: zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocomposite thin films. In the pure LSMO films with similar grain size, it is found that the LFMR increases as the grain misorientation factor (β) increases. The LFMR in the nanocomposite films is greatly enhanced, as compared with single-phase films, due to the reduced grain size, and increased phase boundary (PB) and β effects. The composition study shows that the LFMR can be dramatically enhanced when the secondary phase content approaches the percolation threshold. The increased β and secondary phase concentration reduce the cross-section of electron conduction paths and favor the formation of the quasi-one-dimensional transport channels. Our results demonstrate that the reduction of cross-section of the electron conduction paths by tuning the grain orientation and secondary phase composition is necessary for enhancing LFMR effect.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Ceramic Program, NSF-1007969 and NSF-0846504). The work at Los Alamos was performed, in part, at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. J.L.M-D thanks the Advanced Investigator Grant, Novox, ERC-2009-adG 247276.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, 77843, USA

    Aiping Chen, Wenrui Zhang, Jie Jian & Haiyan Wang

  2. Materials Science and Engineering Program, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, 77843, USA

    Chen-Fong Tsai & Qing Su

  3. Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT), Division of Materials Physics and Applications, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87545, USA

    Quanxi Jia

  4. Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, United Kingdom

    Judith L. MacManus-Driscoll

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  1. Aiping Chen
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Correspondence to Haiyan Wang.

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This author was an editor of this focus issue during the review and decision stage. For the JMR policy on review and publication of manuscripts authored by editors, please refer to http://www.mrs.org/jmr-editor-manuscripts/

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Chen, A., Zhang, W., Jian, J. et al. Role of boundaries on low-field magnetotransport properties of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3-based nanocomposite thin films. Journal of Materials Research 28, 1707–1715 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2013.89

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