Control of the vortex flow in microchannel arrays produced in YBCO films by heavy-ion lithography

High-energy heavy-ion lithography is a powerful tool for tuning both structural and electromagnetic properties of high temperature superconductors by inducing nanometer scale defects confined in micron scale patterns. We show how the vortex dynamics in YBCO thin films patterned by heavy-ion lithography can be controlled and potentially exploited for device applications. Both local critical temperature and local critical currents are effectively tailored by the imposed irradiation geometry. The direct visualization of the real-time dynamics of the magnetic pattern is achieved by the magneto-optical imaging technique, while confined vortex flow is revealed by the simultaneous measurement of the electrical resistance both along and perpendicular (Hall resistance) to the direction of the applied current. It is shown that, for microchannel arrays inclined with respect to the transport current flow, the direction of vortex motion is solely determined by the imposed irradiation pattern geometry, in a well-defined temperature range, for a given applied current.