Studies on thin films and heterojunctions of electron/hole-doped perovskite manganites

Abstract

Intensive research interests in condensed matter physics have been focused at the strongly correlated electron systems. Most of the efforts were devoted in hole-doped manganites with a double exchange interaction between Mn3+/Mn4+. Recently, tetravalent ions substitution has also stimuli much attention as a supplement for the hole-doping. Such electron-doped manganites may be of great potential for the development of all-manganites devices. Manganites are extremely sensitive to external disturbances, such as magnetic fields, electric fields, currents, mechanical strain, and photo illumination, etc. These extraordinary properties make manganites promising for practical applications. In this thesis, the field modulation on physical properties in electron/hole-doped manganites films and heterojunctions were investigated. The effects of tetravalent hafnium doping on the structural, transport, and magnetic properties of polycrystalline La1-xHfxMnO3(LHMO) (0.05 ≤x ≤0.3) were studied systematically. A phase diagram was obtained for the first time through magnetization and resistance measurements in a broad temperature range. An abnormal enhancement of magnetization was observed at about 42 K. It was further confirmed that the second magnetic phase MnO2in LHMO gives rise to such a phenomenon. The dynamic magnetic properties of LHMO, such as relaxation and aging processes, were studied, demonstrating a spin-glass state at low temperature accompanied by a ferromagnetic phase. Heterojunctions composed of n-type SrTiO3-δand p-type GaAs exhibited excellent rectifying behavior from 40K to room temperature. The photocarrier injection effect and a colossal photo-resistance were observed. Strong dependences on both temperature and bias voltage were found as well, which might be under stood by considering the band structure of the formed p-njunction. By employing an ultrathin SrTiO3buffer layer,La0.8Ca0.2MnO3films could be epitaxially grown on GaAs substrates. The heterostructures exhibit good rectifying behavior with a paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition at ~200K. The variation of diffusion voltage with temperature in these heterostructures could be explained by the effects of the Hund’s rule coupling between the La0.8Ca0.2MnO3and the buffer layer. The effects of the strain induced by ferroelectric poling on the magnetic and electric properties have been investigated by using 0.67Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.33PbTiO3(PMN-PT) substrates. The polarization of the PMN-PT crystal reduces the biaxial tensile strain in the formed La0.9Hf0.1MnO3layer.It results in a significant decrease in resistance and an enhancement of the phase transition temperature as well as the magnetization. The impact of the lattice strain on the charge/orbital ordering state was also been studied. The modification of charge/orbital ordering phase by the electric fields and ferroelectric polarization suggested that the unstable states in the manganites are sensitive to the strain. Heterojunctions of La1-xHfxMnO3/Nb:SrTiO3 were fabricated and investigated under different fields (electric, magnetic and optic). These heterojunctions exhibited excellent rectifying behavior in a wide temperature range. Their properties could be significantly modulated by magnetic fields. Prominent photovoltaic effect was also observed in the formed junctions.