Swift Heavy Ion Irradiation Studies on the Transport in La0.8-xPr0.2SrxMnO3 Manganite Films

Abstract

Thin films of La0.8-xPr0.2SrxMnO3 (LPSMO) (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) manganite, synthesized using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique, were irradiated by 200MeV Ag+15 ions with an ion fluence of 5 × 1011 ions/cm2. Structural and microstructural characterizations have been carried out using XRD and AFM show single crystalline nature of the films having island like grain growth. The structural and grain morphology modifications due to irradiation has been observed. Temperature dependent resistivity measurements have been carried out for all the films before and after irradiation, which reveal a reduction in the resistivity and enhancement in insulator - metal (I-M) transition temperature (TP) with Sr content (x) resulting in improved transport (reduced resistivity and enhanced TP) in the films which can be attributed to the irradiation induced improved crystallinity and grain morphology. Temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) improves on irradiation which is useful for practical applications.