Effect of annealing on La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Abstract La 0.8 Sr 0.2 MnO 3 (LSM) polycrystalline powder was synthesized using hydrothermal method at 900 °C. High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HR-TEM) showed that the particles were uniform with average particle size of 657 nm. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and lattice fringes indicated rhombohedral structure of LSM particles. Thin LSM films were successfully grown on cleaned Si (100) substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Annealing of LSM films in air affected structure, morphology and electrical properties that films where crystallization of the LSM films was started at 600 °C and enhanced by further annealing as indicated by XRD. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) revealed that the grain size increases by increasing annealing temperature and at temperature of 1000 °C cracks were seen. Average roughness and root mean square roughness decreased with further annealing (up to 800 °C) then increased at 1000 °C that were verified by atomic force microscope (AFM). Moreover, Raman scattering was enhanced and all major bands were revealed at 800 °C. Resistivity of LSM films decreases with increasing temperature (from 25 °C to 200 °C) and all films underwent a semiconductor behavior in the most of applied temperatures. The lowest resistivity of LSM films was reached at annealing temperature of 800 °C with low activation energy value (E a ) of about 0.1 eV.