Controlling the electronic and magnetic properties in epitaxial LaMnO3/LaScO3 superlattices

Abstract

Perovskite superlattices (SLs) have attracted considerable interest owing to their rich and diverse physical properties. In this study, epitaxial LaMnO3/LaScO3 SLs were grown using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) by controlling the number of atomic monolayers. Raman spectroscopy combined with x-ray diffraction reciprocal space maps confirmed that the introduction of LaScO3 suppressed Jahn–Teller distortion in the SLs. Electrical transport measurements revealed a thermally activated single-gap behavior which mainly depended on the thickness of LaMnO3 layers. Magnetic measurements indicated that the magnetic properties of the SLs were related to the proportions of LaMnO3 and LaScO3 layers. These results are beneficial for the further understanding of the electronic and magnetic properties of LaMnO3-based SLs.