Superconductivity is inhibited in selected regions of a HTS material by subjecting the material to impurity ion bombardment at an energy level selected to implant ions in the material at a selected depth. The concentration of deposited ions varies with depth in the material according to a peaked depth distribution function which has a maximum at the selected depth. The material may be masked before implantation. After low temperature annealing, the material loses its superconducting characteristics in the selected regions but such characteristics are preserved at depths above and below the selected depth. The material's crystalline structure is preserved so additional layers can be epitaxially grown atop the inhibited material Multilayer HTS devices and circuits may be made by repeating the ion implantation and/or masking steps at with different ion energy levels.