Epitaxial Pb on InAs nanowires for quantum devices
Journal article, 2021

Semiconductor-superconductor hybrids are used for realizing complex quantum phenomena but are limited in the accessible magnetic field and temperature range. Now, hybrid devices made from InAs nanowires and epitaxially matched, single-crystal, atomically flat Pb films present superior characteristics, doubling the available parameter space. Semiconductor-superconductor hybrids are widely used to realize complex quantum phenomena, such as topological superconductivity and spins coupled to Cooper pairs. Accessing new, exotic regimes at high magnetic fields and increasing operating temperatures beyond the state-of-the-art requires new, epitaxially matched semiconductor-superconductor materials. One challenge is the generation of favourable conditions for heterostructural formation between materials with the desired properties. Here we harness an increased knowledge of metal-on-semiconductor growth to develop InAs nanowires with epitaxially matched, single-crystal, atomically flat Pb films with no axial grain boundaries. These highly ordered heterostructures have a critical temperature of 7 K and a superconducting gap of 1.25 meV, which remains hard at 8.5 T, and therefore they offer a parameter space more than twice as large as those of alternative semiconductor-superconductor hybrids. Additionally, InAs/Pb island devices exhibit magnetic field-driven transitions from a Cooper pair to single-electron charging, a prerequisite for use in topological quantum computation. Semiconductor-Pb hybrids potentially enable access to entirely new regimes for a number of different quantum systems.

Author

Thomas Kanne

University of Copenhagen

Mikelis Marnauza

University of Copenhagen

Dags Olsteins

University of Copenhagen

Damon J. Carrad

University of Copenhagen

Joachim E. Sestoft

University of Copenhagen

Joeri de Bruijckere

University of Copenhagen

Delft University of Technology

Lunjie Zeng

Chalmers, Physics, Nano and Biophysics

Erik Johnson

University of Copenhagen

Eva Olsson

Chalmers, Physics, Nano and Biophysics

Kasper Grove-Rasmussen

University of Copenhagen

Jesper Nygard

University of Copenhagen

Nature Nanotechnology

1748-3387 (ISSN) 1748-3395 (eISSN)

Vol. 16 7 776-781

Subject Categories

Inorganic Chemistry

Other Physics Topics

Condensed Matter Physics

Areas of Advance

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Infrastructure

Chalmers Materials Analysis Laboratory

DOI

10.1038/s41565-021-00900-9

PubMed

33972757

More information

Latest update

4/11/2023