High critical-current superconductor-InAs nanowire-superconductor junctions

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

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

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate InAs nanowires interfaced with superconducting leads.
• To investigate the transport properties, including critical current and conductance, of these hybrid devices.
• To demonstrate tunable quantum phenomena in a single nanowire device.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a double lift-off nanofabrication technique for precise device construction.
• Fabricated very short InAs nanowire devices with Ohmic contacts.
• Employed local gate voltage to control transport characteristics.

Main Results:

• Achieved very high critical currents up to 800 nA in 80 nm diameter InAs nanowires.
• Observed tunable transport regimes, including Coulomb blockade and supercurrent, in suspended nanowires.
• Demonstrated the ability to combine different transport behaviors within a single device.

Conclusions:

• The developed fabrication method yields high-performance InAs nanowire-superconductor interfaces.
• These devices exhibit promising characteristics for tunable quantum electronics and fundamental physics studies.
• The ability to switch between transport regimes highlights the potential for novel quantum devices.