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Title: Effect of silver doping on the surface of La{sub 5/8}Ca{sub 3/8}MnO{sub 3} epitaxial films

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4895026· OSTI ID:22310820
; ;  [1]
  1. Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 (United States)

Thin film manganese oxides (manganites) display remarkable properties, such as colossal magnetoresistance and charge ordered phases, and became a focal point of research in the past two decades owing to potential applications ranging from oxide spintronics to resistive switching-based memories. La{sub x}Ca{sub 1−x}MnO{sub 3} (LCMO), a widely studied manganite, is known to substantially improve its transport properties when doped with Ag. However, despite the abundance of studies on LCMO, the effect of silver on the surface structure is unknown. Here, through in-situ methods, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is performed on La{sub 5/8}Ca{sub 3/8}MnO{sub 3} films grown by pulsed laser deposition. Films doped by silver, as confirmed by in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, display large-scale reconstructions, interpreted as being of type (√10 × √10)R18.4°, while films lacking silver display a (√2 × √2)R45° reconstruction that may be associated with a surface charge-ordered state. It is posited that the possible cause of the varied reconstructions is due to a vacancy ordering on top of the existing (√2 × √2)R45° reconstruction. These studies highlight the influence of Ag on the surface structure, and therefore a route towards modifying the surface properties of manganites.

OSTI ID:
22310820
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 10; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English