Integration of single crystal La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 films with Si(001)

We have successfully grown high quality epitaxial La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) films on Si(001) substrate using TiN/MgO/SrTiO3 buffer layers by a pulsed laser deposition technique. The integration of LSMO with Si(100) was realized by domain matching epitaxy of TiN on Si(001) and lattice matching epitaxy of MgO, SrTiO3 and LSMO. During domain matching epitaxy, four lattice constants of TiN match with three of silicon across the TiN/Si(001) interface. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope investigations showed the films to be single phase, single crystalline and epitaxial with (001) orientation. Electrical resistivity measurements showed a metal–insulator transition with a resistivity peak at ∼305 K. Enhanced electron–electron interactions are found to play significant role in LSMO films at low temperatures.