Magneto-optical Kerr effect in laser-patterned La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 epitaxial thin films

In this study, we have performed magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) measure ment on epitaxial La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 thin films containing artificial interface s created by laser-patterning the SrTiO3 substrate. The observed increase o f the resistivity and of the high-field magnetoresistance when measuring th e films across the interface arrays are related to the reduction of the mag netization of the interfaces with respect to the rest of the film. As obser ved by the local MOKE probe, the structural disorder in the manganite film induced by the underlying patterned substrate leads to a large spin disorde r responsible for a strong high-field susceptibility of the resistance. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.