Perfect epitaxy of perovskite manganite for oxide spin-electronics

The factors of perfection in perovskite epitaxy and heterostructures to explore a novel field of spin-electronics based on half-metallic and ferromagnetic manganite compounds are defined and demonstrated. Pulsed laser deposition technique is shown to be extremely useful for making layers with such well-defined structures as atomically smooth surface and interfaces, atomically regulated thickness, and epitaxial strain caused by the substrates, when the deposition conditions are well optimized. The importance of charge transfer and spin interaction at the interfaces are highlighted for ultra-thin films and superlattices, respectively.