Superparamagnetic state in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 thin films obtained by rf-sputtering

A novel superparamagnetic state has been observed in high quality La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) thin films directly grown by rf-sputtering on SiOx/Si(100) substrates. The films are nanostructured without grain boundaries, constituted by locally epitaxial nanoregions grown layer-by-layer with out-of-plane (012) preferential orientation, induced by the constrain of the native silicon oxide. Low magnetic field ZFC-FC magnetization curves show a cross-over from superparamagnetic to ferromagnetic state dependent of the thickness. The thicker film (140 nm) exhibits typical ferromagnetic order. The thinner films (40 and 60 nm) exhibit superparamagnetic behavior attributed to interacting ferromagnetic monodomain nanoregions with critical size, random in-plane oriented, where the inter-monodomain boundaries with surface spin-glass structure regulate the blocking of magnetization depending on the magnetic field intensity. M(H) hysteresis loops showed noticeable coercive fields in all samples, larger than those reported for LSMO. Such properties of half-metal LSMO film foresee potential integration in new Si-technology nanodevices in Spintronics.