Recently, A paper named " Enhanced Magnetic Properties in Epitaxial Self-Assembled Vertically Aligned Nanocomposite (Pr0.5Ba0.5MnO3)0.5: (CeO2)0.5 Thin Films " is published in Journal of Materials Chemistry C (IF:5.066). Mr. LvKang Shen is the first and Associate Professor Chunrui Ma is the communications writer.
Epitaxial self-assembled vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) Pr0.5Ba0.5MnO3:CeO2 (PBMO:CeO2) and pure PBMO films were fabricated on (001) (La, Sr)(Al, Ta)O3 substrates by pulsed laser deposition system. Besides confirmation of the in-plane and out-of-plane orientation using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy study has revealed columnar structure of PBMO:CeO2 with column width around 10~20 nm and distinct phase separation between PBMO and CeO2 from energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy measurement. The introduction of CeO2 does not change the crystal quality of PBMO, and both films exhibit good crystalline quality. However, the vertical compressive strain induced by CeO2 partially relaxes the in-plane and out-of-plane strain of PBMO, relative to the pure PBMO film, and the magnetization of the VAN thin film is enhanced and almost two times higher than the pure film. Moreover, the relaxed strain and the insulating CeO2 nanopillar acting as the energy barrier induce the larger resistivity and enhanced magnetoresistance. All of these phenomena indicate that the VAN structure is an effective method to tune the strain states in thin film and obtain desired physical properties.
