Influence of swift heavy ion irradiation on structure and morphology of La_0.25Pr_0.375Ca_0.375MnO₃ film

The effects of Ag15+ (120 MeV) swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation on the structural and morphological properties of epitaxial La0.25Pr0.375Ca0.375MnO3 (LPCMO) thin films were investigated by x-ray scattering and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. LPCMO films of thickness similar to 280 & Aring; were irradiated with an Ag15+ ion beam at different fluences of 1 x 10(11), 5 x 10(11), and 1 x 10(12) ions cm(-2). XRD results suggested the development of the tensile stress along the out-of-plane direction of the LPCMO film upon ion irradiation, which increases on increasing the ion fluence. The morphology of the film was also modified with the irradiation and an increase in the fluence of the ion beam enhanced the in-plane height-height correlation length scale (grain size) with a loss of the fractal behaviours. The linear variation of microstrain with ion irradiation fluence in thin LPCMO film can be considered for a possible strain-driven application in modifying functional properties of such a phase separated complex oxide.