Effects of residual and tunable strain on the transport properties and electroresistance effects in thin films of La0.39Pr0.24Ca0.37MnO3

The effects of residual and tunable strain on transport properties and electroresistance effects in thin films of La0.39Pr0.24Ca0.37MnO3 (LPCMO) have been investigated. Due to different lattice mismatch, thin films of LPCMO on SrTiO3 (STO) and 0.7PbMg(1/3)Nb(2/3)O(3)e(0.3)PbTiO(3) (PMNPT) are in different residual strain states. As a result of the converse piezoelectric effect, applying an electric voltage across PMNPT can generate a tunable strain. It is found that the effects of tunable strain are in accordance with those of residual strain and the strain has significant influences on not only the transport properties but also the electroresistance effects. With the decrease of tensile in-plane strain, the system becomes more metallic and the electroresistance effects are weaker. These results have been discussed in terms of the evolution of lattice distortion and phase competition as the tensile in-plane strain changes. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.