Ferromagnetism and metal-like transport in antiferromagnetic insulator heterostructures

Strained Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3/La0.5Ca0.5MnO3/Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 trilayers were grown on (001)-SrTiO3 substrates using the pulsed-laser deposition technique. The coupling at the interfaces of several trilayers has been investigated from magnetization and electronic transport experiments. An increase of La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 layer thickness induces a magnetic ordering in the strain layers and at the interfaces, leading to ferromagnetic behavior and enhanced coercivity, while resistivity shows metal-like behaviors. These effects are not observed in the parent compounds, which are antiferromagnetic insulators, opening a path to induce artificially some novel properties. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.