Multistep accelerated aging of magnetic field sensors based on nanostructured La-Sr-Mn-O thin films

Abstract

We present results of investigation of accelerated aging influence on electrical resistivity and magnetoresistance (MR) of nanostructured La-Sr-Mn-O films used for magnetic field sensors, which could be applied in advanced scientific and industrial devices. The 400-nm-thick manganite films were grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition technique. To investigate the effectiveness of accelerated aging, the three methods were tested: 1) thermal treatment of the sensor samples at 100 °C temperature in Ar atmosphere when film surface was uncoated; 2) thermal treatment of the samples coated prior to treatment by polymer; and 3) multistep aging including both previous methods: thermal treatment of the samples with uncoated surface in Ar atmosphere and additional thermal treatment of the coated samples. The sensor samples were studied without and in pulsed magnetic field up to 20 T. To describe the underlying processes, the kinetics of resistivity change during accelerated aging was analyzed using a stretched exponent relaxation function. It was found that the best long-term stability of resistivity in time demonstrated samples treated by a multistep accelerated aging method. All three aging methods resulted in minor influence (<1%) on MR of the films in magnetic fields up to 20 T.