Annealing dependence of the lattice parameter, resistivity, magnetoresistance and thermopower have been studied on Nd_0.7-Sr_0.33MnO₃ thin films deposited on LaAlO₃ and alumina substrates by pulsed laser ablation. Upon annealing at 800°C and 1000°C the lattice constant of the LaAlO₃ film tends toward that of the bulk target due to reduction in oxygen vacancies. This results in a metal-insulator transition at temperatures which increase with progressive annealing along with a decrease in the observed low temperature MR. Using a magnon scattering model we estimate the e_g bandwidth of the film annealed at 1000°C and show that the magnon contribution to the resistivity is suppressed in a highly oxygen deficient film and gains prominence only upon subsequent annealing. We also show that upon annealing, the polaron concentration and the spin cluster size increases in the paramagnetic phase, using an adiabatic polaron hopping model which takes into account an exchange dependent activation energy above the resistivity peak.

We report polarized Raman scattering in single crystals of Nd_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃. The temperature dependence of the MnO₆ octahedral bending and stretching modes observed in the XX spectra points to the existence of local lattice distortions, possibly polarons. The XY spectra have been analyzed using a collision-dominated model, which allows the extraction of the carrier scattering rate.