Tailoring transport properties of phase-separated manganite films with ordered magnetic nanostructures

The magnetotransport properties of thin manganite films (La0.7Ca0.3MnO3) coupled with arrays of permalloy (Py) nanodots deposited on the surface of the film are studied as a function of temperature, magnetic field, and the size of the dots. In the presence of the magnetic dots, a reduction of the electrical resistivity is observed, especially at the insulator-to-metal transition, as well as a shift of the transition peak towards higher temperatures. This indicates that, due to local interface exchange coupling, highly conductive ferromagnetic domains are nucleated in the manganite film underneath the Py nanodots. The use of a simplified resistor network model allows us to estimate the size of the metallic regions induced by exchange coupling. At low temperatures, these regions extend similar to 70 nm beyond the edge of the nanodots, a length scale comparable to the correlation length of the ferromagnetic clusters in the phase-separated state of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3.