  Manganite thin films are promising candidates for studying the strongly
correlated electron systems. Understanding the growth-and morphology-driven
changes in the physical properties of manganite thin films is vital for their
applications in oxitronics. This work reports the morphological, structural,
and electrical transport properties of nanostructured Nd0.6Sr0.4MnO3 (NSMO)
thin films fabricated using the pulsed laser deposition technique. Scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) imaging of the thin films revealed two prominent
surface morphologies: a granular and a unique crossed-nano-rod-type morphology.
From X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis, we
found that the observed nanostructures resulted from altered growth modes
occurring on the terraced substrate surface. Furthermore, investigations on the
electrical-transport properties of thin films revealed that the films with
crossed-nano-rod type morphology showed a sharp resistive transition near the
metal-to-insulator transition (MIT). An enhanced temperature coefficient of
resistance (TCR) of up to one order of magnitude was also observed compared to
the films with granular morphology. Such enhancement in TCR % by tuning the
morphology makes these thin films promising candidates for developing
oxide-based temperature sensors and detectors.
