Superconducting vanadium/indium-arsenide hybrid nanowires

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Hybrid nanowires offer unique properties by combining different materials.
• Controlling the interface is crucial for optimizing performance in nanostructures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize InAs/vanadium hybrid nanowires using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).
• To investigate the effect of vanadium deposition temperature on the structure and properties of the hybrid nanowires.
• To evaluate the superconducting properties of the fabricated hybrid nanowires.

Main Methods:

• Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) for InAs nanowire growth and subsequent vanadium deposition.
• Investigated four deposition temperatures for vanadium (-150 °C to 250 °C).
• Fabricated electronic devices to test critical magnetic field and resistivity versus temperature.

Main Results:

• Vanadium deposition temperature influenced the structural relationship between vanadium and InAs.
• Lower temperatures yielded polycrystalline vanadium shells; higher temperatures caused vanadium-InAs reaction.
• Hybrid nanowires exhibited a high out-of-plane critical magnetic field, surpassing bulk vanadium.
• Nanoscale grains led to an undefined critical temperature and device-to-device resistivity variations.

Conclusions:

• MBE enables the synthesis of InAs/vanadium hybrid nanowires with controlled interfaces.
• Deposition temperature is a critical parameter affecting hybrid nanowire morphology and properties.
• While exhibiting enhanced critical magnetic fields, nanoscale effects limit well-defined superconducting transitions.