Parity-preserving and magnetic field-resilient superconductivity in InSb nanowires with Sn shells

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 372; no. 6541; pp. 508 - 511
• Main Authors: Pendharkar, M, Zhang, B, Wu, H, Zarassi, A, Zhang, P, Dempsey, C P, Lee, J S, Harrington, S D, Badawy, G, Gazibegovic, S, Op Het Veld, R L M, Rossi, M, Jung, J, Chen, A-H, Verheijen, M A, Hocevar, M, Bakkers, E P A M, Palmstrøm, C J, Frolov, S M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The American Association for the Advancement of Science 30.04.2021; American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• Subjects: Aluminum; Condensed Matter; Electrons; Indium antimonide; Information processing; Magnetic fields; Materials Science; Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect; Nanotechnology; Nanowires; Physics; Superconductivity
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aba5211

Improving materials used to make qubits is crucial to further progress in quantum information processing. Of particular interest are semiconductor-superconductor heterostructures that are expected to form the basis of topological quantum computing. We grew semiconductor indium antimonide nanowires that were coated with shells of tin of uniform thickness. No interdiffusion was observed at the interface between Sn and InSb. Tunnel junctions were prepared by in situ shadowing. Despite the lack of lattice matching between Sn and InSb, a 15-nanometer-thick shell of tin was found to induce a hard superconducting gap, with superconductivity persisting in magnetic field up to 4 teslas. A small island of Sn-InSb exhibits the two-electron charging effect. These findings suggest a less restrictive approach to fabricating superconducting and topological quantum circuits.