Observing Metal-Insulator Transitions in Spatially-Confined Perovskite Manganite Thin Films

Transition metal oxides (TMO) exhibit a strong spin-charge-lattice interaction that can lead to electronic phase separation (PS). This phenomenon carries a number of fascinating electronic and magnetic phases while maintaining a single crystalline structure. To better understand the nature of phase transition involving the coexistence of multiple phases, we have fabricated La$_{5/8-x}$Pr$_{x}$Ca$_{3/8}$MnO$_{3}$ (LPCMO) wires from single crystal LPCMO thin films using optical and E-beam lithographic techniques. These wires display giant and ultrasharp steps with varying temperature and magnetic field near the metal-insulator transition, which is believed to be a direct consequence of the influence of spatial confinement on percolative transport in these structures.