WOLTE 2
Proceedings of the Second European Workshop on Low Temperature Electronics

J. Phys. IV France 06 (1996) C3-309-C3-314
DOI: 10.1051/jp4:1996347

Magnetic Transitions and Magneto-Transport in Epitaxial Pr_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ Thin Films

P. Wagner¹, V. Metlushko¹, M. Van Bael¹, R.J.M. Vullers¹, L. Trappeniers¹, A. Vantomme², J. Vanacken^{1, 3}, G. Kido³, V.V. Moshchalkov¹ and Y. Bruynseraede<sup>1

1</sup>  Laboratorium voor Vaste-Stoffysica en Magnetisme, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200 D, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
²  Instituut voor Kern- en Stralinsfysica, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200 D, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
³  Tsukuba Magnet Laboratories, National Research Institute for Metals, Sengen 1-2-1, Tsukuba Science City, Ibaraki 305, Japan

Abstract
Epitaxial thin films of the magnetic perovskite Pr_0.5Sr_0.5 MnO₃ were prepared by dc-magnetron sputtering, structurally characterized by x-ray diffraction and their physical properties investigated by magnetization and electrical transport measurements. Ferromagnetic ordering appears in zero-field at 263 K, followed by a second transition into an antiferromagnetic state at 160 K. The zero-field resistivity has a semiconducting behaviour according to Mott's law and becomes quasi-metallic only within the ferromagnetic state, whose temperature range can be extended by applying an external magnetic field. The negative magnetoresistance effect increases systematically with decreasing temperature and reaches a value of 700 % at 1.5 K in a field of 12 T. For temperatures below 75 K we observed additionally a memory effect, showing up as a persistent, field induced lowering of sample resistivity.

© EDP Sciences 1996