Heteroepitaxy of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 on MgO-buffered R-Al2O3 substrates

Abstract

Precisely (100)-oriented La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 films have been grown by aerosol assisted metal-organic chemical vapor deposition technique on a sapphire (R-plane) substrate covered by a MgO(100) buffer layer. The film structure was characterized by techniques of x-ray diffraction and small-angle x-ray scattering. The temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity of the La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 films was shifted toward lower temperatures by ~10 K in comparing with a typical single crystalline films grown on MgO(100) substrates.