Strain-Engineered Ferromagnetism in LaMnO_sub3sub_ Thin Films

Jaume Roqueta, Alberto Pomar*, Lluis Balcells, Carlos Frontera, Sergio Valencia, Radu Abrudan, Bernat Bozzo, Zorica Konstantinović, José Santiso, and Benjamín Martínez;  
Cryst. Growth Des., 2015, 15 (11), pp 5332–5337;  
DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.5b00884

The amount of structural strain in pulsed laser deposited LaMnO3 thin films is controlled by modifying the nominal oxygen pressure during growth. Bulklike antiferromagnetic films are obtained when reducing conditions lead to partially relaxed films. On the other hand, under oxidizing conditions, fully strained films exhibit ferromagnetic insulating behavior related to strain-induced orbital ordering.