Electrical transport and magnetic properties of nanostructured La0.67Ca0.33MnO3

Nanostructured La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 (NS-LCMO) was formed by pulsed-laser deposition on the surface of porous Al2O3. The resistance peak temperature (Tp) of the NS-LCMO increases with increasing average thickness of the films, while their Curie temperatures (Tc) remain unchanged. The coercive field of the samples increases with decreasing film thickness and its temperature dependence can be well described by Hc(T) = Hc(0)[1-(T/TB)1/2]. A large magnetoresistance and strong memory effect were observed for the NS-LCMO. The results are discussed in terms of the size effect, Coulomb blockade and magnetic tunneling effect. This work also demonstrates a new way to get nanostructured manganites.