Highly homogeneous YBCO/LSMO nanowires for photoresponse experiments.

By using nanolithography and a soft etching procedure, we have realized Y Ba₂Cu₃O_7−x/La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ (YBCO/LSMO) nanowires, with cross sections down to 100 × 50 nm² that ensure the cover age of areas up to 10 × 30 μm². The LSMO layer acts as a capping for YBCO, minimizing the degradation of the superconducting properties taking place during the patterning; moreover, as a ferromagnetic manganite, it is expected to accelerate the relaxation dynamics of quasiparticles in YBCO, making such a system potentially attractive for applications in superconducting ultrafast optoelectronics. The reproducibility of the values of the critical current densities measured in different devices with the same geometry makes our nanowires ideal candidates for photoresponse experiments. First measurements have shown a satisfactory photoresponse from YBCO/LSMO devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]