Magnetic and electronic properties of ordered double-perovskite La ₂VMnO₆ thin films

We report the stabilization of the B-site-ordered phase of epitaxial La₂VMnO₆ double-perovskite films grown by pulsed-laser deposition. Previous theoretical calculation predicted the possibility of realizing a spin-compensated half-metallic state in this system with an Mn3 ⁺ ion at a low spin state. In contrast, our magnetic measurements suggest that the system in ordered phase is ferrimagnetic with Mn3⁺ at a high spin state. Synchrotron radiation photoemission measurement indicates that the electronic ground state of this material is insulating: occupied Mn 3d t_2g, Mn 3d e_g, and V 3d t_2g states are located far from the Fermi level. The optical band gap is estimated to be about 0.9 eV, which is similar to the charge transfer gap of LaMnO₃ based on the optical absorption spectra.