The effect of substrate induced strain on the charge-ordering transition in Nd_(0.5)Sr_(0.5)MnO₃ thin films

We report the synthesis and characterization of Nd_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}MnO_{3} thin films grown by the Pulsed Laser Deposition technique on 100 -oriented LaAlO_{3} substrates. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies show that the films are 101 -oriented, with a strained and quasi-relaxed component, the latter increasing with film thickness. We observe that transport properties are strongly dependent on the thickness of the films. Variable temperature XRD down to 100 K suggests that this is caused by substrate induced strain on the films.