Structural, magnetic, transport, and magneto-optical properties of single crystal La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 thin films

We have grown La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 thin films by reactive facing target radio frequency sputtering on SrTiO3 (001) substrates with the nominal stoichiometry and the perovskite structure down to nanometer-scale film thickness. The films are found to be perfectly expitaxied on SrTiO3, without misfit dislocations. The surfaces of the layers were found to be highly flat with terraces of approximate to 4 Angstrom height corresponding to the manganite unit cell. Magnetic measurements evidence a decrease of the Curie temperature for decreasing thickness. Low temperature magnetoresistance is very small, confirming the absence of grain boundaries in the films but it reaches approximate to-50% at room temperature. Finally, magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements between 20 and 400 K reveal the onset of ferromagnetic transition via the coercive field increase and the Kerr rotation and ellipticity measurements. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)44108-3].