Crystallographic dependence of the electrical transport mechanism in La-Mn-O thermosensitive thin films

Bimetallic oxide materials with amorphous state usually exhibit singular peculiarities due to their periodic disorder structure, implying great potential applications as high-performance electronic devices. In this report, La-Mn-O thin films with different crystallographic features (amorphous and polycrystalline) were deposited on Si (100) substrates using magnetron sputtering method. The as-deposited thin films were successfully convert from the amorphous state to the polycrystalline state by tuning the post-annealing temperatures. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed that La-Mn-O was amorphous at annealing temperatures of 500 °C, while the films were polycrystalline at higher annealing temperatures (600 °C and 700 °C). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-magnification transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) distinguished the microscopic features of LaMnO3 thin films in polycrystalline and amorphous states. The effects of annealing temperatures and structural disorder on the temperature-dependent electrical transport properties of La-Mn-O thin films are investigated. The resistance-temperature relationship curves of both polycrystalline and amorphous films show negative temperature coefficient behavior, and the amorphous films follow more than one conduction mechanism. Results show that the electrical transport of the crystalline La-Mn-O films is mainly controlled by thermal activation mechanism, while the electron transport behavior of the amorphous film is simultaneously influenced by thermal activation and Mott VRH variable range hopping conduction.