Influence of swift heavy ion irradiation on structure and morphology of La0.25Pr0.375Ca0.375MnO3 perovskite film

The effects of Ag15+ (120 MeV) swift heavy ion irradiation on the structural and morphological properties of epitaxial La0.25Pr0.375Ca0.375MnO3 (LPCMO) thin films was investigated by x-ray scattering and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. LPCMO films of thickness ~ 280 Å were irradiated with an Ag15+ ion beam at different fluences of 1E11, 5E11, and 1E12 ions/cm2. XRD results suggested the development of the tensile stress along the out-of-plane direction of the LPCMO film upon ion irradiation which increased on increasing the ion fluence. The morphology of the film 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 behaviour.