Granular superconductivity and magnetic-field-driven recovery of macroscopic coherence in a cuprate/manganite multilayer

Abstract

We show that in Pr${}_{0.5}$La${}_{0.2}$Ca${}_{0.3}$MnO${}_3$/YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_7$ (PLCMO/YBCO) multilayers the low temperature state of YBCO is very resistive and resembles the one of a granular superconductor or a frustrated Josephson-junction network. Notably, a coherent superconducting response can be restored with a large magnetic field which also suppresses the charge-orbital order in PLCMO. This coincidence suggests that the granular superconducting state of YBCO is induced by the charge-orbital order of PLCMO. The coupling mechanism and the nature of the induced inhomogeneous state in YBCO remain to be understood.

6 pages, 4 figures. Supplementary Information as extra file