Supercurrent through InAs nanowires with highly transparent superconducting contacts

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Superconducting transistors are crucial for quantum computing and electronics.
• Indium arsenide (InAs) nanowires offer unique electronic properties for device applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate and characterize one-dimensional superconducting transistors using individual InAs nanowires.
• To investigate the impact of highly transparent contacts on superconducting phenomena in InAs nanowires.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of InAs nanowire devices using radio-frequency sputter cleaning.
• In situ metal deposition to form contacts.
• Electrical transport measurements, including response to microwave radiation.

Main Results:

• Successful fabrication of superconducting transistors with InAs nanowires.
• Observation of supercurrent, multiple Andreev reflections, and Shapiro steps due to highly transparent contacts.
• Detection of Fabry-Perot interference and normal conductance quantization near pinch-off, correlated with supercurrent.

Conclusions:

• The study demonstrates the feasibility of creating superconducting transistors with InAs nanowires.
• Highly transparent contacts are essential for observing robust superconducting phenomena.
• The observed interference and quantization effects highlight the quantum nature of electron transport in these devices.