The electronic and magnetic properties of La{sub 0.85}Zr{sub 0.15}MnO{sub 3} deposited on SrTiO{sub 3} and MgO substrates
The electronic and magnetic properties of tetravalent-ion-doped La{sub 0.85}Zr{sub 0.15}MnO{sub 3} (LZMO) thin films that were epitaxially grown on SrTiO{sub 3} (STO) and MgO substrates were studied using temperature-dependent x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray absorption near-edge structure, x-ray linear dichroism, and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism at the Mn L{sub 3,2}- and K-edge. XRD studies reveal that the LZMO thin films have compressive and tensile strains (along the c-axis) on the STO and MgO substrates, respectively. As the temperature is reduced from room temperature to below magnetic transition temperature, the preferentially occupied Mn majority-spin e{sub g} orbital changes from the in-plane d{sub x}{sup 2}{sub -y}{sup 2} to the out-of-plane d{sub 3z}{sup 2}{sub -r}{sup 2} orbital for LZMO/STO, and vice versa for LZMO/MgO. Experimental results suggest that the new hopping path that is mediated by the Mn{sup 2+} ions triggers a stronger d{sub 3z}{sup 2}{sub -r}{sup 2} orbital ordering of Mn{sup 3+} ions and enhances the ferromagnetic coupling between the Mn spin moments of t{sub 2g} electrons in LZMO/STO, whereas the strong tensile strain stabilizes the d{sub x}{sup 2}{sub -y}{sup 2} orbital by inducing lattice distortions of the MnO{sub 6} octahedra in LZMO/MgO.