Planar superconductor/ferromagnet hybrids: Anisotropy of resistivity induced by magnetic templates

We investigated experimentally the transport properties of a superconducting cross-shaped aluminum microbridge fabricated on top of a ferromagnetic BaFe(12)O(19) single crystal. It was demonstrated that a one-dimensional domain structure in the ferromagnetic substrate can induce the formation of superconducting channels above magnetic domains. This leads to a giant anisotropy of resistivity of the superconducting bridge, caused by the appearance of continuous paths of supercurrents flowing along domain walls.