Self-assembled (La0.7Sr0.3MnO3)0.5:(ZnO)0.5 vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) thin films are epitaxially grown on SrTiO3 (001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The unique VAN system with a vertical ferromagnetic–insulating–ferromagnetic struc­­ture exhibits tunable and enhanced low-field magnetoresistance that is associated with the tunable vertical phase boundaries. 

Vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) thin films with controllable vertical interface, vertical lattice strain, and defects have enabled tremendous research activities in a variety of complex oxides. The remarkable progress achieved in VAN thin films is reviewed from a perspective of tuning functionalities through control of strain, defect, and interface. 

We show that, under direct lattice matching framework, large and uniform vertical strain up to 2% can be achieved to significantly modify the magnetic anisotropy, magnetism, and magnetotransport properties in heteroepitaxial nanoscaffold films, over a few hundred nanometers in thickness.