Metal‐Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) Synthesis of Heteroepitaxial Pr_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃Films: Effects of Processing Conditions on Structural/Morphological and Functional Properties

Abstract

Calcium-doped praseodymium manganite films (Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3, PCMO) were prepared by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on SrTiO3 (001) and SrTiO3 (110) single-crystal substrates. Structural characterization through X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses confirmed the formation of epitaxial PCMO phase films. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization was used to confirm lateral and vertical composition and the purity of the deposited films. Magnetic measurements, obtained in zero-field-cooling (ZFC) and field-cooling (FC) modes, provided evidence of the presence of a ferromagnetic (FM) transition temperature, which was correlated to the transport properties of the film. The functional properties of the deposited films, combined with the structural and chemical characterization collected data, indicate that the MOCVD approach represents a suitable route for the growth of pure, good quality PCMO for the fabrication of novel spintronic devices.

A practical MOCVD approach to the growth of Pr1-xCaxMnO3films on single crystal substrates

“…The optimized Pr/Ca/Mn ratio of 1.8:0.6:1 in the source mixture produces Pr 0.7 Ca 0.3 MnO 3 films. In regard to thermal behavior of the mixture, its vaporization rate has been evaluated through isothermal measurements carried out for 3 h. The vaporization rate has a linear behavior in the 120–140 °C temperature range .…”

MOCVD Growth of Perovskite Multiferroic BiFeO3 Films: The Effect of Doping at the A and/or B Sites on the Structural, Morphological and Ferroelectric Properties

“…In the case of doped systems the following sources have been added to the mixture: i) Ba(hfa) 2 •tetraglyme or Dy(hfa) 3 •diglyme (synthesized as the homologous Pr adduct) have been applied to dope BiFeO 3 at the A site with Ba 2+ or Dy 3+ , respectively; ii) Ti(tmhd) 2 (O‐iPr) 2 has been used as source for Ti doping at the B site. The used approach has been widely applied for the deposition of various perovskite type films, such as the high Tc superconducting La (1–x) Ba x CuO 4 , the host matrix of luminescent ion YAlO 3 and the ferromagnetic Pr (1–x) Ca x MnO 3 thin films.…”

Engineering of Functional Manganites Grown by MOCVD for Miniaturized Devices

“…Table 1 summarizes the most significant works reported up to now by relevant world‐class groups working in the field. A vast number of manganites systems have been synthetized, including a huge variety of lanthanum manganites (La 1– y A′ y )MnO 3 : La 1– y Sr y MnO 3 (0 ≤ y ≤ 0.65), La 0.7 Ca 0.3 MnO 3 , La 0.8 Ba 0.2 MnO 3 , La 1– y K y MnO 3 (0.05 ≤ y ≤ 0.4), La 0.82 Na 0.18 MnO 3 ; YMnO 3 , and other lanthanide manganites such as Pr 1– y Ca y MnO 3 (0.05 ≤ y ≤ 0.64), Pr 0.6 Sr 0.4 MnO 3 , LuMnO 3 , ErMnO 3 , DyMnO 3 , HoMnO 3 , TbMnO 3 , and NdMnO 3 …”

“…Among all perovskites, manganites (A 3+ 1– y A ′2+ y )MnO 3 , A 3+ : trivalent rare earth ion and A′ 2+ : divalent alkaline‐earth ion) have attracted special attention since the discovery in the early 1990s of the colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) properties. The magnetism induced by the mixed valence (3 + –4 + ) of the Mn ions is responsible for the phenomena of charge/orbital ordering and double‐exchange interaction . Consequently, manganites show remarkable interrelated structural, magnetic, and transport properties .…”

“…Hence, synthetic manganites with tailored functional properties have clear implications in the miniaturization of new devices using microfabrication techniques, generally referred to as miniaturized devices, such as resistive switching (RS) memories, spintronic sensors, micro solar cells and micro solid oxide fuel cells . The possibility of integrating manganites into the semiconductor microtechnology (using silicon or germanium substrates) and their low‐cost synthesis by implementation of thin films at wafer scale make them promising candidates for the microelectronics industry future progress, mainly for novel “beyond‐CMOS” and “More‐than‐Moore” technologies .…”