  Variable temperature scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy studies on
(110) oriented epitaxial thin films of
La$_{0.350}$Pr$_{0.275}$Ca$_{0.375}$MnO$_3$ are reported in the temperature
range of 77 to 340 K. The films, grown on lattice matched NdGaO$_3$ substrates,
show a hysteretic metal-insulator transition in resistivity at 170 K. The
topographic STM images show step-terrace morphology while the conductance
images display a nearly homogeneous surface. The normalized conductance spectra
at low temperatures (T$<$150 K) show an energy gap of 0.5 eV while for
T$\geq$180 K a gap of 0.16 eV is found from the activated behavior of the zero
bias conductance. The presence of energy gap and the absence of phase
separation on the surface over more than 2 $\mu$m$\times$2 $\mu$m area
contradicts the metallic behavior seen in resistivity measurements at low
temperatures. We discuss the measured energy gap in terms of the stabilization
of the insulating CO phase at the film surface.

Strongly Correlated Electrons