Electronic structure of RE1-xAxMnO3 manganite films investigated by magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy

Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy was used to study the features of the electronic structure of an epitaxial La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 film in the range of 1.2 - 4 eV. The study of the temperature behavior of the MCD spectra made it possible to establish a correlation between the magnetooptical and transport properties of the sample. The data obtained were analyzed in comparison with MCD data for polycrystalline manganite films of various RE1-xAxMnO3 compositions. The MCD spectra of the films were compared with the spectra of the off-diagonal component of the permittivity tensor calculated from the data of the magneto-optical Kerr effect for films of the same composition. A unified set of ground and excited electronic states characteristic of RE1-xAxMnO3 manganites in the visible and near infrared ranges has been identified. These results are important for a qualitative theoretical description of the electronic structure of strongly correlated magnetic oxides.