Modified Kondorsky Domain Reversal in Microstructured Phase-Separated Manganites

The hole-doped manganite (La${1-y}$Pr${y}$)${0.67}$Ca${0.33}$MnO$3$ (LPCMO) shows electronic phase separation between ferromagnetic metallic (FMM) and anti-ferromagnetic charge-ordered insulating (AFM-COI) regions. In this study, (La${0.5}$Pr${0.5}$)${0.67}$Ca${0.33}$MnO${3}$ (LP5CMO) microstructures were fabricated using photolithography on thin films grown on (110) NdGaO$_3$ (NGO) substrates. We investigated the domain reversal mechanism of these microstructures through magnetotransport measurements. Our results demonstrate that, while bulk (unpatterned) films follow the standard Kondorsky model for domain reversal, the microstructures obey a modified Kondorsky model. This difference indicates that local magnetic fields from reversed domains significantly influence the coercive field in confined geometries. Although we did not observe a strong electric field effect, this study establishes that magnetotransport measurements are a feasible method for probing the competition between shape and magnetocrystalline anisotropy in manganite microstructures, which could provide an alternative path for controlling magnetic domains at low current densities.

💡 Research Summary

In this work the authors investigate magnetic domain reversal in microstructured, phase‑separated manganite thin films of the composition (La0.5Pr0.5)0.67Ca0.33MnO3 (LP5CMO). The LP5CMO films, 30 nm thick, were grown by pulsed‑laser deposition on (110)‑oriented NdGaO3 (NGO) substrates, a platform known to impose anisotropic in‑plane strain that aligns the magnetic easy axis along the