ResultsFig. 1 summarises certain relevant properties of manganite ultrathin films. Resistance (R) along with magnetoresistance (MR) characterisations provide a comprehensive description of the electric and magnetic properties of these materials and reveal the characteristic metal-insulator transition (MIT). The R vs. temperature (T) dependence and low-field MR of the 4 samples described in Table 1 are shown in Fig. 1 (a). The 15-nm-thick sample had no transition to a semiconducting-like behaviour in the R (T) curve within the temperature range investigated, and the Curie temperature of this sample as determined from the MR (T) curve was nearly 320 K. Such behaviour is typical of LSMO films of this thickness, making this sample a benchmark10. The MIT temperature (TMI) and the Curie temperature (TC) shifted to approximately 300 K for the 6-nm-thick film and 280 K