Are strain-induced effects truly strain induced? A comprehensive study of strained LCMO thin films

We report results on strained La23 Ca13 Mn O3 (LCMO) films that are able to distinguish between true strain effects and effects due simply to the reduced film thickness. Biaxially strained LCMO films were grown on SrTi O3, NdGa O3, and LaAl O3. The films on SrTi O3 and LaAl O3 are elastically strained and those on NdGa O3 are only slightly strained. We observe that both the saturation moment (Msat) and the Curie temperature (TC) are suppressed as the films become thinner, regardless of the strain. Thus, the decrease in Msat and TC is due to the two-dimensional nature of the films and not the strain. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.