Effects of electric-field-induced piezoelectric strain on the electronic transport properties of La0.9Ce0.1MnO3 thin films

The authors constructed multiferroic structures by growing La0.9Ce0.1MnO3 (LCEMO) thin films on piezoelectric 0.68Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.32PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) single-crystal substrates. Due to the efficient elastic coupling at the interface, the electric-field-induced piezoelectric strain in PMN-PT substrates is effectively transferred to LCEMO films and thus, leads to a decrease in the resistance and an increase in the magnetoresistance of the films. Particularly, it was found that the resistance-strain coefficient [(ΔR/R)film/(Δεzz)filmΔR/Rfilm/Δεzzfilm] of the LCEMO film was considerably enhanced by the application of magnetic fields, demonstrating strong coupling between the lattice and the spin degrees of freedom. (ΔR/R)film/(Δεzz)filmΔR/Rfilm/Δεzzfilm at 122 K was enhanced by ~ 28.8% by a magnetic field of 1.2 T. An analysis of the overall results demonstrates that the phase separation is crucial to understand strain-mediated modulation of electronic transport properties of manganite film/PMN-PT multiferroic structures.

► La0.9Ce0.1MnO3 films were epitaxially grown on piezoelectric single crystals.
► Piezoelectric strain influences the electronic transport properties of films.
► Magnetic field enhances the piezoelectric strain effect.
► Phase separation is crucial to understand the piezoelectric strain effect.