Voltage tunable photodetecting properties of La0.4Ca0.6MnO3 films grown on miscut LaSrAlO4 substrates

We report the voltage tunable photodetecting properties of a La0.4Ca0.6MnO3 film grown on miscut LaSrAlO4 (001) substrates under ultraviolet pulsed laser irradiation at ambient temperature. The photovoltage and photocurrent peak sensitivities can be tuned in the range of 0.295-0.786 V/mJ and 0.172-0.314 A/mJ, respectively, when the applied bias is changed from -20 to +20 V, indicating that the vicinal manganite film can be used as an electric tunable ultraviolet photodetector. A possible mechanism based on the high resolution transmission electron microscopy is introduced to explain the experiment results. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3473781]