We report the observation of anomalous magnetic anisotropy driven by nonmagnetic ZrO2 nanoparticles in epitaxial La2/3Sr1/3MnO （LSMO） films grown on LaAlO3 （LAO） substrates. The compressive epitaxial strain imposed by the lattice mismatch of substrate and film is tuned by the density of ZrO2 nanoparticles embedded in the film matrix and affects the magnetic anisotropy as well as the magnetotransport properties. Epitaxial 54 nm thick LSMO thin films with different concentrations of ZrO2 nanoparticles demonstrate anisotropic hysteresis loops concomitant with anisotropic magnetotresistance behavior. The biaxial epitaxial strain, induced by the substrate/film lattice parameter mismatch is partially relaxed by increasing the density of precipitates and they serve as a tuning parameter for the strain state. We interpret our results by a strain-induced interplay of impurity scattering, weak localization and magnetic domain structure.
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