Preparation of epitaxial La0.6Ca0.4Mn1−xFexO3 (x = 0, 0.2) thin films: Variation of the oxygen content

Perovskite thin films with a nominal composition of La0.6Ca0.4Mn1−xFexO3 (x = 0, 0.2) were deposited by pulsed reactive crossed beam laser ablation. The film properties, such as electrical conductivity and magnetoresistance are studied as a function of the oxygen content and substrate type. The oxygen content of the thin films was determined by Rutherford Backscattering and controlled by varying the background gas pressure, pressure of the gas pulse and by using alternatively O2 and N2O as the gas pulse.LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 were used as substrates at deposition temperature of 650 °C. The grown films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction in order to optimize the growth conditions, i.e. to obtain epitaxial thin films. Thin films doped with 20% Fe were grown under the same experimental conditions as the undoped LCMO films and the effect of the doping on the structural and transport properties of the thin films has been investigated.The temperature of the metal–insulator transition was measured as a function of the oxygen content and substrate type.