Morphology and Curie temperature engineering in crystalline La0.7Sr0.3MnO3
(LSMO) films on Si by pulsed laser deposition
Supporting Data
Cross-section SEM images of different morphologies:
Supporting Figure 1. Cross-section SEM images of films (a) IX (b) VI (c) II and (d) V. Images (a) and
(b) represent the 2 extremes of morphological growth seen in this study – the distinct columnar
morphology of film IX and the ultra-dense morphology of film VI that suggests a layer-by-layer growth.
Tight grain packing is observed for both transition and dense morphology films in (c) and (d)
respectively. However, smoother surface and negligible inter-granular separation are observed in the
dense morphology film shown in (d).
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Raw magnetization data:
Supporting Figure 2: Measured magnetization data (per unit mass) for all the films, after removing the
Si substrate contribution. Differences in net moment are attributed to coexistence of O2 deficient clusters
between O2 stoichiometric ones – the presence of which can vary with deposition conditions. While this
may affect net moment in the film, Curie temperature Tc is defined primarily by O2 stoichiometric
clusters and residual strain in the film. Columnar film sample IX is seen to possess the highest net
moment and is therefore estimated to be least O2-deficient.
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Emergence of texture:
Supporting Figure 3. Emergence of texture as seen through XRD results of zone “D” films at (a)
750°C (b) 700°C and (c) 670°C. The starred peaks highlight other planes whose signature is seen to
either diminish or vanish, while a preferred orientation along {012} planes develops. It is seen here that
as the deposition temperature decreases, emergence of texture takes place at higher energy density
values.
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