We report the fabrication of high-Tcsuperconducting wires by photodoping aGdBa2Cu3O6.5thin film. An optical near-field probe was used to locally excite carriers in the system at room temperature. Trapping of the photogenerated electrons define a confining potential for the conducting holes in the CuO planes. Spatially resolved reflectance measurements show the photogenerated nanowires to be ∼250 nm wide. Electron diffusion, before electron capture, is believed to be responsible for the observed width of the wires. ©1998 American Institute of Physics.