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Title: Surface and interface properties of L a 2 / 3 S r 1 / 3 Mn O 3 thin films on SrTiO 3 (001)

Journal Article · · Physical Review Materials
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [5]; ORCiD logo [6];  [3];  [3]
  1. Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Nanjing Univ., Nanjing (People's Republic of China)
  2. Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  3. Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States)
  4. Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Fudan Univ., Shanghai (People's Republic of China)
  5. Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Univ. of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui (People's Republic of China)
  6. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Understanding and manipulating properties emerging at a surface or an interface require a thorough knowledge of structure-property relationships. We report a study of a prototype oxide system, La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 grown on SrTiO3(001), by combining in situ angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ex situ x-ray diffraction, and scanning transmission electron microscopy/spectroscopy with electric transport measurements. We find that La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 films thicker than 20 unit cells (u.c.) exhibit a universal behavior with no more than one u.c. intermixing at the interface but at least 3 u.c. of Sr segregation near the surface, which is (La/Sr)O terminated. The conductivity vs film thickness shows the existence of nonmetallic layers with thickness ~6.5±0.9u.c., which is independent of film thickness but mainly relates to the deviation of Sr concentration near the surface region. Below 20 u.c., the surface of the films appears mixed, (La/Sr)O with MnO2 termination. Decreasing film thickness to less than 10 u.c. leads to the enhanced deviation of chemical composition in the films and eventually drives the film insulating. Finally, our observation offers a natural explanation for the thickness-driven metal-nonmetal transition in thin films based on the variation of film stoichiometry.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; SC0002136; AC02-98CH10886
OSTI ID:
1529072
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1508190
Report Number(s):
BNL-211778-2019-JAAM; PRMHAR
Journal Information:
Physical Review Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 4; ISSN 2475-9953
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 14 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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