STM study on the electronic phase separation of manganites*

Phase separation is a key problem in understanding the exotic properties of complex oxide materials. Combing pulsed laser deposition with in situ scanning tunneling microscopy, we can investigate the electronic phase separation ofLa$_{5/8-x}$Pr$_{x}$Ca$_{3/8}$M nO$_{3}$. Current imaging tunneling spectroscopy reveals both local domain contrast and global conductivity evolving when the temperature crosses over the metal-insulator transition temperature. The domain size can be several hundred nanometers. This result confirms other experimental results and shows that the surface electronic properties of complex oxide materials can represent their bulk properties.