Effect of Microstructure on Transport Properties of Nano-Polycrystalline La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO_3-_D Films

Abstract

The effect of microstructure on transport properties of nano-polycrystalline La0.7Sr0.3MnO3-δ films, which were prepared by DC magnetron sputtering at various working pressures and followed by air annealing at 973K for 1h, has been investigated. The result indicates that the change of working pressure can change the microstructure, metal-insulator transition temperature (TIM) and peak resistance but does not change the transport mechanism for the films. The vacancy defects have an important effect on the transport properties of the films. Higher working pressure tends to decrease the density of vacancy defects. Low vacancy defects account for the high TIM and low resistance of the films. In the region of T > TIM, the charge carriers are moving in variable range hopping mode. The behavior of resistance decreasing with the increasing of temperature at low temperature (T<23K) can be explained on the basis of thermal excitation tunneling effect. The minimum resistance results from the combined effect of the tunneling effect and intrinsic metallic transport characteristic of the films.