Magnetoresistance in polymer-assisted deposited Sr- and Ca-doped lanthanum manganite films

We have grown epitaxial films of La0.67 Sr0.33 Mn O3 (LSMO) and La0.67 Ca0.33 Mn O3 (LCMO) on single crystalline LaAl O3 substrates by a cost effective polymer-assisted deposition technique. Film crystallinity, microstructure, resistivity, magnetization, and magnetoresistance (MR) were highly dependent on the annealing temperature in the film processing. High negative MR values of -50% (at 305 K) and -88% (at 250 K) were observed at magnetic field of 5 T, for high temperature annealed LSMO and LCMO films, respectively. These results are comparable to those for films grown by pulsed laser deposition and rf sputtering techniques.