Formation of stripe domains in thin insulating La/sub 0.7/Ca/sub 0.3/MnO/sub 3/ films

Summary form only given. La/sub 0.7/Ca/sub 0.3/MnO/sub 3/ (LCMO) films epitaxially grown on substrates with a significant lattice mismatch show a metal-insulator transition as function of film thickness. Very thin, fully strained films are usually insulating; the application of a magnetic field induces a metallic state. The nature of this metallic state is studied here in more detail using magnetotransport and current-voltage measurements. LCMO films were grown on SrTiO/sub 3/ using pulsed laser ablation. Below a thickness of about 30 nm the films are under full tensile strain and the magnetotransport properties deviate significantly from bulk properties. In zero field the film is clearly insulating, although magnetization measurements show ferromagnetic ordering below about 250 K. After application of 8 T the film becomes metallic.