Laser microscopy of tunneling magnetoresistance in manganite grain-boundary junctions.

Using low-temperature scanning laser microscopy we directly image electric transport in a magnetoresistive element, a manganite thin film intersected by a grain boundary (GB). Imaging at variable temperature allows reconstruction and comparison of the local resistance versus temperature for both the manganite film and the GB. Imaging at low temperature also shows that the GB switches between different resistive states due to the formation and growth of magnetic domains along the GB. We observe different types of domain wall growth; in most cases a domain wall nucleates at one edge of the bridge and then proceeds towards the other edge.