Superconductivity and Parity Preservation in As-Grown In Islands on InAs Nanowires

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We report in situ synthesis of crystalline indium islands on InAs nanowires grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Structural analysis by transmission electron microscopy showed that In crystals grew in a tetragonal body-centered crystal structure within two families of orientations relative to wurtzite InAs. The crystalline islands had lengths < 500 nm and low-energy surfaces, suggesting that growth was driven mainly by surface energy minimization. Electrical transport through In/InAs devices exhibited Cooper pair charging, evidencing charge parity preservation and a pristine In/InAs interface, with an induced superconducting gap similar to 0.45 meV. Cooper pair charging persisted to temperatures > 1.2 K and magnetic fields similar to 0.7 T, demonstrating that In/InAs hybrids belong to an expanding class of semiconductor/superconductor hybrids operating over a wider parameter space than state-of-the-art Al-based hybrids. Engineering crystal morphology while isolating single islands using shadow epitaxy provides an interesting alternative to previous semiconductor/superconductor hybrid morphologies and device geometries.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNano Letters
Volume21
Issue number23
Pages (from-to)9875-9881
Number of pages7
ISSN1530-6984
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 8 Dec 2021

    Research areas

  • nanowires, nanoscale superconductors, indium, hybrid nanowires, quantum materials, MAJORANA FERMIONS, QUANTUM, PERIODICITY, LIFETIME, EPITAXY, INDIUM, 2E

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