Comparative analysis of the magnetic and the transport properties of electron- and hole-doped manganite films

Microstructure, magnetic and transport properties of as-deposited electron-doped $La_{1-x}Ce_xMnO_3$ and hole-doped $La_{1-x}Ce_xMnO_3$ films prepared by pulse laser deposition, with x = 0.1 and 0.3, have been investigated. The microstructural analysis reveals that the $La_{1-x}Ce_xMnO_3$ films have a column-like microstructure and a strip-domain phase with a periodic spacing of about 3c, which were not found for the $La_{1-x}Ce_xMnO_3$ ones. At the same time, the experimental results manifest that there is no fundamental difference in the magnetic and the transport properties between electron- and hole-doped manganite films, except the appearance of ferromagnetic response in the low-doped $La_{0.9}Ce_{0.1}MnO_3$ film at temperatures above the Curie point. The observed magnetic behavior, typical for the Griffiths-like phase, for this film is explained by the percolation mechanism of the ferromagnetic transition and by the presence of strip-domain phase which stimulates the magnetic phase separation.