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Formation and electronic properties of InSb nanocrosses

Nature Nanotechnology volume 8, pages 859–864 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Signatures of Majorana fermions have recently been reported from measurements on hybrid superconductor–semiconductor nanowire devices. Majorana fermions are predicted to obey special quantum statistics, known as non-Abelian statistics. To probe this requires an exchange operation, in which two Majorana fermions are moved around one another, which requires at least a simple network of nanowires. Here, we report on the synthesis and electrical characterization of crosses of InSb nanowires. The InSb wires grow horizontally on flexible vertical stems, allowing nearby wires to meet and merge. In this way, near-planar single-crystalline nanocrosses are created, which can be measured by four electrical contacts. Our transport measurements show that the favourable properties of the InSb nanowire devices—high carrier mobility and the ability to induce superconductivity—are preserved in the cross devices. Our nanocrosses thus represent a promising system for the exchange of Majorana fermions.

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Figure 1: The four-step process for synthesizing branched InSb nanowires.
Figure 2: Merging process for two InSb nanowires.
Figure 3: Crystal structure of a single-crystalline nanocross.
Figure 4: Transport through a nanocross.
Figure 5: Nanocross Hall measurements.
Figure 6: Gate-tunable supercurrent through a nanocross.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) and Microsoft Corporation Station Q. D.C. and A.G. acknowledge financial support from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (grant agreement no. 265073, NANOWIRING).

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Author notes

  1. Sébastien R. Plissard and Ilse van Weperen: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, PO Box 513, 5600 MB, The Netherlands

    Sébastien R. Plissard, Diana Car, Marcel A. Verheijen & Erik P. A. M. Bakkers

  2. Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, Delft, 2628CJ, The Netherlands

    Sébastien R. Plissard, Ilse van Weperen, Jakob Kammhuber, Ludo J. Cornelissen, Daniel B. Szombati, Attila Geresdi, Sergey M. Frolov, Leo P. Kouwenhoven & Erik P. A. M. Bakkers

  3. Philips Innovation Services Eindhoven, High Tech Campus 11, Eindhoven, 5656AE, The Netherlands

    Marcel A. Verheijen & George W. G. Immink

  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, 3943 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, 15260, Pennsylvania, USA

    Sergey M. Frolov

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  1. Sébastien R. Plissard
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Contributions

S.R.P. and E.P.A.M.B. supervised the experiments. G.W.G.I., S.R.P., D.C. and E.P.A.M.B. grew the T- and X-shaped nanowires. S.R.P. performed the XRD measurements. M.V. analysed the structures using TEM. I.v.W., J.K., L.J.C. and D.B.S. fabricated the cross devices and performed the electrical measurements. I.v.W., J.K., L.J.C., D.B.S., A.G., S.M.F. and L.P.K analysed the electrical data. The manuscript was prepared with contributions from all authors.

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Correspondence to Sébastien R. Plissard or Erik P. A. M. Bakkers.

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Plissard, S., van Weperen, I., Car, D. et al. Formation and electronic properties of InSb nanocrosses. Nature Nanotech 8, 859–864 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2013.198

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