Structural, magnetic and transport properties of NdBaCo2O 5+x thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering

Abstract

For the first time, thin films of NdBaCo2O5+x were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on different substrates. The films deposited on SrLaAlO4(001) substrates exhibited highly textured structure with c-axis directed out-of-plane. Magnetic measurements M vs. T of three NdBaCo2O5+x/SrLaAlO4(001) films revealed successively paramagnetic-ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic transitions with decrease in temperature. Their paramagnetic Curie{Weiss temperatures were estimated to be in the range of TC = 100-116 K. Resistivity of the cobaltite thin film exhibited insulating behavior and the best fit was found for the variable range hopping mechanism.