Growth of magnetoresistant La1-xMnO3 films on r-plane cut sapphire

We have prepared thin La1-xMnO3 films on r-plane cut sapphire by liquid source MOCVD. Tetramethylheptadionates of La and Mn (La(thd)3 and Mn(thd)3) were used as precursors and diethyleneglycol dimethyl ether as a solvent. The films were grown at deposition temperature TD = 800 °C . Temperature dependence of resistivity of the films was typical as for epitaxial films, with insulator-metal transition between 260 and 300 K and sharp decrease of the resistivity below. X-ray diffraction analysis show (100) and (110) preferred orientation of the film. Transition electron microscopy revealed epitaxial grains with grain size about 100 nm distributed in polycrystalline matrix