The effects of lattice distortion on the electrical properties of magnetic La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 polycrystalline films

Using magnetron sputtering technique, a series of La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 polycrystalline films with various thickness, t, were prepared on Si (1 0 0) substrates with oxidized surface. The electrical transport properties of the film materials were investigated. It has been found that with the change of the film thickness the resistivity appears to be a significant change at thickness around 73 nm. XRD studies revealed that there is a corresponding change for the lattice parameters when the thickness of the films is less than 73 nm. It is believed that the observed big change of the resistivity at the thickness of around 73 nm is attributed to the enhancement of scattering of the conduction electrons, which is resulted from the distortion of the lattice structure