Ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires
Abstract Semiconductor nanowires have opened new research avenues in quantum transport owing to their confined geometry and electrostatic tunability. They have offered an exceptional testbed for superconductivity, leading to the realization of hybrid systems combining the macroscopic quantum propert...
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Nature Portfolio
2017-07-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms16025 |
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| author | Hao Zhang Önder Gül Sonia Conesa-Boj Michał P. Nowak Michael Wimmer Folkert K. de Vries Jasper van Veen Michiel W. A. de Moor Jouri D. S. Bommer David J. van Woerkom Diana Car Sébastien R Plissard Erik P.A.M. Bakkers Marina Quintero-Pérez Maja C. Cassidy Sebastian Koelling Srijit Goswami Kenji Watanabe Takashi Taniguchi Leo P. Kouwenhoven |
| author_facet | Hao Zhang Önder Gül Sonia Conesa-Boj Michał P. Nowak Michael Wimmer Folkert K. de Vries Jasper van Veen Michiel W. A. de Moor Jouri D. S. Bommer David J. van Woerkom Diana Car Sébastien R Plissard Erik P.A.M. Bakkers Marina Quintero-Pérez Maja C. Cassidy Sebastian Koelling Srijit Goswami Kenji Watanabe Takashi Taniguchi Leo P. Kouwenhoven |
| author_sort | Hao Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Semiconductor nanowires have opened new research avenues in quantum transport owing to their confined geometry and electrostatic tunability. They have offered an exceptional testbed for superconductivity, leading to the realization of hybrid systems combining the macroscopic quantum properties of superconductors with the possibility to control charges down to a single electron. These advances brought semiconductor nanowires to the forefront of efforts to realize topological superconductivity and Majorana modes. A prime challenge to benefit from the topological properties of Majoranas is to reduce the disorder in hybrid nanowire devices. Here we show ballistic superconductivity in InSb semiconductor nanowires. Our structural and chemical analyses demonstrate a high-quality interface between the nanowire and a NbTiN superconductor that enables ballistic transport. This is manifested by a quantized conductance for normal carriers, a strongly enhanced conductance for Andreev-reflecting carriers, and an induced hard gap with a significantly reduced density of states. These results pave the way for disorder-free Majorana devices. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-05b40ff9f8e14523bd5d92afecabeadc |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-05b40ff9f8e14523bd5d92afecabeadc2025-08-20T03:01:43ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232017-07-01811710.1038/ncomms16025Ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowiresHao Zhang0Önder Gül1Sonia Conesa-Boj2Michał P. Nowak3Michael Wimmer4Folkert K. de Vries5Jasper van Veen6Michiel W. A. de Moor7Jouri D. S. Bommer8David J. van Woerkom9Diana Car10Sébastien R Plissard11Erik P.A.M. Bakkers12Marina Quintero-Pérez13Maja C. Cassidy14Sebastian Koelling15Srijit Goswami16Kenji Watanabe17Takashi Taniguchi18Leo P. Kouwenhoven19QuTech, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyDepartment of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of TechnologyKavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyDepartment of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of TechnologyQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyAdvanced Materials Laboratory, National Institute for Materials ScienceAdvanced Materials Laboratory, National Institute for Materials ScienceQuTech, Delft University of TechnologyAbstract Semiconductor nanowires have opened new research avenues in quantum transport owing to their confined geometry and electrostatic tunability. They have offered an exceptional testbed for superconductivity, leading to the realization of hybrid systems combining the macroscopic quantum properties of superconductors with the possibility to control charges down to a single electron. These advances brought semiconductor nanowires to the forefront of efforts to realize topological superconductivity and Majorana modes. A prime challenge to benefit from the topological properties of Majoranas is to reduce the disorder in hybrid nanowire devices. Here we show ballistic superconductivity in InSb semiconductor nanowires. Our structural and chemical analyses demonstrate a high-quality interface between the nanowire and a NbTiN superconductor that enables ballistic transport. This is manifested by a quantized conductance for normal carriers, a strongly enhanced conductance for Andreev-reflecting carriers, and an induced hard gap with a significantly reduced density of states. These results pave the way for disorder-free Majorana devices.https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms16025 |
| spellingShingle | Hao Zhang Önder Gül Sonia Conesa-Boj Michał P. Nowak Michael Wimmer Folkert K. de Vries Jasper van Veen Michiel W. A. de Moor Jouri D. S. Bommer David J. van Woerkom Diana Car Sébastien R Plissard Erik P.A.M. Bakkers Marina Quintero-Pérez Maja C. Cassidy Sebastian Koelling Srijit Goswami Kenji Watanabe Takashi Taniguchi Leo P. Kouwenhoven Ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires Nature Communications |
| title | Ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires |
| title_full | Ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires |
| title_fullStr | Ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires |
| title_short | Ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires |
| title_sort | ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms16025 |
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