  In this work we study the transport properties of hybrids that consist of
exchange biased ferromagnets (FMs) combined with a low-Tc superconductor (SC).
Not only different FMs but also various structural topologies have been
investigated: results for multilayers of La(1-x)CaxMnO3 combined with Nb in the
form of [La0.33Ca0.67MnO3/La0.60Ca0.40MnO3]15/Nb, and for more simple
Ni80Fe20/Nb/Ni80Fe20 trilayers and Ni80Fe20/Nb bilayers are presented. The
results obtained in all hybrid structures studied in this work clearly uncover
that the exchange bias mechanism promotes superconductivity. Our findings
assist the understanding of the contradictory results that have been reported
in the recent literature regarding the transport properties of relative
FM/SC/FM spin valves.
