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Epitaxy of semiconductor–superconductor nanowires

Nature Materials volume 14, pages 400–406 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Controlling the properties of semiconductor/metal interfaces is a powerful method for designing functionality and improving the performance of electrical devices. Recently semiconductor/superconductor hybrids have appeared as an important example where the atomic scale uniformity of the interface plays a key role in determining the quality of the induced superconducting gap. Here we present epitaxial growth of semiconductor–metal core–shell nanowires by molecular beam epitaxy, a method that provides a conceptually new route to controlled electrical contacting of nanostructures and the design of devices for specialized applications such as topological and gate-controlled superconducting electronics. Our materials of choice, InAs/Al grown with epitaxially matched single-plane interfaces, and alternative semiconductor/metal combinations allowing epitaxial interface matching in nanowires are discussed. We formulate the grain growth kinetics of the metal phase in general terms of continuum parameters and bicrystal symmetries. The method realizes the ultimate limit of uniform interfaces and seems to solve the soft-gap problem in superconducting hybrid structures.

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Figure 1: Overview of epitaxial InAs/Al hybrids.
Figure 2: Domain-matched InAs/Al interfaces.
Figure 3: Al layer morphology and asymmetric strain.
Figure 4: Full-shell epitaxial bicrystal match.
Figure 5: Electrical properties of the Al/InAs epitaxial hybrids.
Figure 6: Growth of SE/SU interface barriers.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank B. Wenzell, L. Schulte and J. B. Wagner for TEM sample preparation, W. Zhang for assistance on TEM and EDX analyses, G. Ungaretti for substrate preparation and C. B. Sørensen for technical assistance. We acknowledge financial support by Microsoft Project Q, EU FP7 project SE2ND (no. 271554), the Danish Strategic Research Council, the Danish Advanced Technology Foundation, the Carlsberg Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation. The Center for Quantum Devices is supported by the Danish National Research Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Quantum Devices, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

    P. Krogstrup, N. L. B. Ziino, W. Chang, S. M. Albrecht, M. H. Madsen, E. Johnson, J. Nygård, C. M. Marcus & T. S. Jespersen

  2. Department of Wind Energy, Technical University of Denmark, Risø Campus, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark

    E. Johnson

  3. Nano-Science Center, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

    J. Nygård

Authors
  1. P. Krogstrup
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  2. N. L. B. Ziino
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  3. W. Chang
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  4. S. M. Albrecht
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  5. M. H. Madsen
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  6. E. Johnson
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  7. J. Nygård
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  9. T. S. Jespersen
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Contributions

P.K., T.S.J., M.H.M. and J.N. developed materials growth and analysis. N.L.B.Z., W.C., S.M.A., C.M.M. and T.S.J. performed transport measurements. E.J. and N.L.B.Z. performed TEM imaging.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to P. Krogstrup, J. Nygård or T. S. Jespersen.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Krogstrup, P., Ziino, N., Chang, W. et al. Epitaxy of semiconductor–superconductor nanowires. Nature Mater 14, 400–406 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4176

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