Planar Hall effect in epitaxial (1 1 0) La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 films

We report on the growth and magnetotransport characterization of (1 1 0) La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 epitaxial films grown on (1 1 0) SrTiO3 substrates. We will show first, that these manganite films display a quite unique anisotropic in-plane structural relaxation that translates into an in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. We have measured both the longitudinal and transverse components - so called planar Hall effect - of the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) with current along [0 0 1] and [1 1 0] directions, as a function of the angle between the current and the in-plane applied field. These experiments have allowed showing that the in-plane [0 0 1] direction is the easy anisotropy axis and large magnetic switching effects have been found at appropriate temperature and field ranges.