Abstract
Thin films of the double perovskite La2NiMnO6 (LNMO) have been grown on various lattice-matched substrates (SrTiO3, LaAlO3, NdGaO3 and MgO) by pulsed laser deposition under varying oxygen background pressure (25 - 800 mTorr). The out-of-plane lattice constant of the LNMO film initially decreases with increasing pressure, likely caused by a reduction in the defect concentration and improved structural ordering, before leveling off at higher pressures. Scanning transmission electron microscopy results show that the films are epitaxial, and the interface is sharp and coherent. While very few defects are observed by STEM in a film grown at high oxygen pressure (800 mTorr), a film grown at a lower pressure (100 mTorr) shows the formation of defects that extend throughout the thickness except for a very thin layer near the interface. The Raman spectra of the films are dominated by two broad peaks at around 540 cm-1 and 685 cm-1, which are assigned to the antisymmetric stretching (AS) and symmetric stretching (S) modes of MnO6 and NiO6 octahedra, respectively. The Raman peaks of the LNMO thin films grown in 800 mTorr background O2 are blue shifted in comparison to those of LNMO bulk, and the shift increases with decreasing film thickness, indicating the increased influence of strain. The critical thickness for strain relaxation as determined from the Raman spectra is between 40 - 80 nm. The strain is observed to have a negligible influence on the magnetic properties for films grown at high oxygen pressures. However, films grown at low pressures exhibit degraded magnetic properties, which can be attributed to a combination of B-site cation disorder and an increase in the concentration of Mn3+ and Ni3+ Jahn-Teller ions caused by oxygen defects. With increasing oxygen pressure during growth, the paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition temperature (~280 K) gets sharper and the saturation magnetization at low temperatures is enhanced. Based on electron energy loss spectroscopy studies, the Mn and Ni ions in LNMO thin films are determined to be mixed-valent Mn3+/Mn4 +, and a charge transition disproportionation of the type Mn4+ + Ni2+ _ Mn3+ + Ni3+ likely occurs with increasing oxygen deficiency.