Effect of (1 1 1)-oriented strain on the structure and magnetic properties of La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 thin films
Using strain, i.e. subtle changes in lattice constant in a thin film induced by the underlying substrate, opens up intriguing new ways to control material properties. We present a study of the effects of strain on structural and ferromagnetic properties of (1 1 1) pc -oriented La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 epitaxial thin films grown on NdGaO 3 , SrTiO 3 , and DyScO 3 substrates. (The subscript pc denotes the pseudo-cubic symmetry.) The results show that La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 assumes a monoclinic unit cell on NdGaO 3 and DyScO 3 and a rhombohedral unit cell on SrTiO 3 . For La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 on NdGaO 3 and DyScO 3 a uniaxial magnetic anisotropy is found, while La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 on SrTiO 3 is magnetically isotropic. The Néel model is used to explain the anisotropy of the thin films on NdGaO 3 and SrTiO 3 , however, for La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 on DyScO 3 the effect of octahedral rotations needs to be included through the single ion model. Finally, through examination of the Curie temperature of the strained films we suggest that (1 1 1)-strain has a different effect on the Jahn-Teller splitting of e g and t 2g electron levels than what is seen in (0 0 1) pc -oriented La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 thin films.