Local anisotropy in strained manganite thin films

We report on an angular resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy study of the local atomic structure around the manganese ions in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 thin films epitaxially grown on tensile and compressive substrates. Ab initio calculations provide strong support to the analysis of the experimental data and make possible the unambiguous derivation of a model of local distortion around the manganese atoms, without modification of the tilt angle Mn–O–Mn, among the octahedra. This distortion, tending to localize the charge carriers, is the driving parameter in the modifications of the magnetic and transport properties observed in thin films with respect to bulk systems.