Quasi-periodic metal-insulator phase separation in strain engineered La<sub>0.66</sub>Sr<sub>0.33</sub>MnO<sub>3</sub> thin films

ORAL

Abstract

We report the electronic phase separation in the prototypical double exchange ferromagnet La0.66Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO) thin films grown on LaAlO3 (LAO) substrate. We discovered a peculiar mesoscale stripe pattern that only occurs at specific film thickness, using the scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope (s-SNOM) at the mid-infrared (mid-IR) frequencies. These novel quasi-periodic mesoscale metal-insulator-metal stripes are contributed to a subtle and delicate balance between the epitaxial strain and surface twin structure of the LAO substrate. Our work strongly suggests the possibility to control the metallicity via interface and strain engineering in strontium doped manganites.

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Presenters

  • Xinzhong Chen

    • Stony Brook University

Authors

  • Xinzhong Chen

    • Stony Brook University

  • Lin Li

    • USTC

  • Xiaodong Fan

    • USTC

  • Zhijing Niu

    • Stony Brook University

  • Mengkun Liu

    • Stony Brook University

  • Changgan Zeng

    • USTC
    • University of Science and Technology of China