Upper limit for the effect of elastic bending stress on the saturation magnetization of L a0.8 S r0.2Mn O3

Using polarized neutron reflectometry, we measured the influence of elastic bending stress on the magnetization depth profile of a La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 (LSMO) epitaxial film grown on a SrTiO3 substrate. The elastic bending strain of ±0.03% has no obvious effect on the magnetization depth profile at saturation. This result is in stark contrast to that of (La1-xPrx)1-yCayMnO3 (LPCMO) films for which strain of ±0.01% produced dramatic changes in the magnetization profile and Curie temperature. We attribute the difference between the influence of strain on the saturation magnetization in LSMO (weak or none) and LPCMO (strong) to a difference in the ability of LSMO (weak or none) and LPCMO (strong) to phase separate. Our observation provides an upper limit of tuning LSMO saturation magnetization via elastic strain effect.