Enhanced magneto-electrical properties and room temperature magnetoresistance in lightly doped manganite thin films

We report the effect of compressive strain on magnetic and magneto-electrical properties of lightly doped manganite La0.88Sr0.12MnO3 thin films. Films, having 5–60 nm thickness, were grown on (001) LaAlO3 and (001) SrTiO3 substrate by DC-magnetron sputtering. These films show a magnetoresistance as high as ∼65% at room temperature and insulator–metal transition temperature (TIM)∼320K. Further, we demonstrate that a small variation in strain causes significant changes in their properties. We have discussed the possible origin of these features and compared with the reported literature.