In order to develop superconducting thin films or multilayer structures suitable for Abrikosov vortex flux flow transistors, we propose a model to describe the current–voltage characteristics measured on microbridges operating in the flux creep regime and we show how the effective superconducting thickness of the samples, as well as the pinning potential range, the maximum velocity, the pinning energy, and the depinning current of the vortices can be determined. This model is applied to microbridges with structures containing one or severalYBa2Cu3O7−&dgr;layers which were deposited either onLaAlO3or onSrTiO3substrates. The results demonstrate that mostYBa2Cu3O7−&dgr;microbridges exhibit very similar properties and are not suitable for flux flow devices. However, bilayer structures comprised of aYBa2Cu3O7−&dgr;film and a conductive capping layer display interesting properties. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.