Magnetic x-ray scattering, transport and MFM study of strongly correlated La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$MnO$_{3}$ nanowires*

Artificial patterning is a promising new approach to studying strongly correlated materials, since a boundary acts as a perturbation that can tip the balance among various competing ground states. We have fabricated large, periodic arrays of 80 nm wide nanowires from epitaxially grown La$_{0.67}$Sr$_{0.33}$MnO$_3$ (LSMO) thin films. Their electronic and magnetic properties were studied with resonant soft x-ray scattering (RSXS), transport measurements and magnetic force microscopy (MFM). RSXS measurements revealed a series of structural diffraction peaks that arise from the periodic wire structure. Below the Curie temperature we also observed a series of magnetic superlattice reflections, indicating collective ordering of the magnetic moments into a pattern with a spatial period of five wires. Transport measurements also showed anomalous ``telegraph'' switching noise at temperatures below 15K, and MFM revealed unusual domain formation. We interpret these results as arising from unusual, boundary-induced magnetic domains interacting via long-ranged, classical magnetic dipole coupling.