Robust high-temperature magnetic pinning induced by proximity in YBa2Cu3O7-8/La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 hybrids

An elaborately designed bilayer consisting of superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-6 (YBCO) and ferromagnetic La0.67Sr0.33MnO3-6 (LSMO) was prepared on a single crystal LaAlO3 substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD), with a view to understanding the mechanism behind the influence of superconductor/ferromagnet proximity on the critical current density, Jc. The present bilayer system shows significant modifications in Jc, as evidenced by the suppressed decay of its temperature dependence, as well as the crossing behavior of the magnetic field dependence of Jc at high temperatures. This indicates that enhanced flux pinning emerges at high temperatures, and it is believed to arise from the special magnetic inhomogeneity, i.e., the ferromagnet/antiferromagnet clusters caused by phase separation due to the epitaxial stress between LSMO and the substrate.