Strain-induced magnetic damping anomaly in La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$MnO$_{3}$ ($x=0.3$-$0.5$) thin films

Abstract

Magnetic properties of La$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$MnO$_{3}$ (LSMO) are highly sensitive to various factors such as the Sr doping level $x$, lattice strain, and oxygen stoichiometry due to the strongly correlated nature of $3d$ electrons. For the development of energy-efficient spintronic devices with ultra-low magnetic damping of LSMO, a thorough understanding of its complex magnetization dynamics is of great importance. In this work, we have measured ferromagnetic resonance of LSMO thin films on Nb-doped SrTiO$_3$ (Nb-STO) substrates over a wide temperature and frequency range and observed an anomalous increase in the Gilbert damping constant and a decrease in the effective saturation magnetization at temperatures below 100 K. The anomalies become more pronounced as the LSMO thickness decreases while they are not observed for LSMO on (LaAlO$_3$)$_{0.3}$(Sr$_2$TaAlO$_6$)$_{0.7}$ substrates with relatively small epitaxial strain. The results suggest that the epitaxial strain-induced magnetically dead layer at the LSMO/Nb-STO interface acts as a spin sink and leads to the anomalies in the magnetization dynamics.