Nanowire network fabrics of La1−xSrxMnO3 (LSMO) with different doping levels x = 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 were fabricated by means of electrospinning. The resulting nanowires are up to 100 μm long with a mean diameter of about 230 nm. The nanowires form a nonwoven fabric-like arrangement, allowing to attach electric contacts for magnetoresistance (MR) measurements. The resistance in applied magnetic fields and the MR effect were measured in the temperature range 2 K < T < 300 K in magnetic fields up to 10 T applied perpendicular to the sample surface. An MR ratio of about 70% is obtained for x = 0.2 at 10 T applied field and T = 20 Kr. The highest low-field MR of 5.2% (0.1 T) is obtained for the sample with x = 0.2. Magnetization measurements reveal the soft magnetic character of the samples. A thorough analysis of the microstructure of these nanowire networks is performed including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
Part of the book: Nanowires