Subgap spectroscopy along hybrid nanowires by nm-thick tunnel barriers
Abstract Tunneling spectroscopy is widely used to examine the subgap spectra in semiconductor-superconductor nanostructures when searching for Majorana zero modes (MZMs). Typically, semiconductor sections controlled by local gates at the ends of hybrids serve as tunnel barriers. Besides detecting st...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42422-z |
| _version_ | 1827709605271044096 |
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| author | Vukan Levajac Ji-Yin Wang Cristina Sfiligoj Mathilde Lemang Jan Cornelis Wolff Alberto Bordin Ghada Badawy Sasa Gazibegovic Erik P. A. M. Bakkers Leo P. Kouwenhoven |
| author_facet | Vukan Levajac Ji-Yin Wang Cristina Sfiligoj Mathilde Lemang Jan Cornelis Wolff Alberto Bordin Ghada Badawy Sasa Gazibegovic Erik P. A. M. Bakkers Leo P. Kouwenhoven |
| author_sort | Vukan Levajac |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Tunneling spectroscopy is widely used to examine the subgap spectra in semiconductor-superconductor nanostructures when searching for Majorana zero modes (MZMs). Typically, semiconductor sections controlled by local gates at the ends of hybrids serve as tunnel barriers. Besides detecting states only at the hybrid ends, such gate-defined tunnel probes can cause the formation of non-topological subgap states that mimic MZMs. Here, we develop an alternative type of tunnel probes to overcome these limitations. After the growth of an InSb-Al hybrid nanowire, a precisely controlled in-situ oxidation of the Al shell is performed to yield a nm-thick AlOx layer. In such thin isolating layer, tunnel probes can be arbitrarily defined at any position along the hybrid nanowire by shadow-wall angle-deposition of metallic leads. In this work, we make multiple tunnel probes along single nanowire hybrids and successfully identify Andreev bound states (ABSs) of various spatial extension residing along the hybrids. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:24:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5720506569854a03aecc6897d06e9bca |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:24:17Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-5720506569854a03aecc6897d06e9bca2023-11-20T10:13:21ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232023-10-011411810.1038/s41467-023-42422-zSubgap spectroscopy along hybrid nanowires by nm-thick tunnel barriersVukan Levajac0Ji-Yin Wang1Cristina Sfiligoj2Mathilde Lemang3Jan Cornelis Wolff4Alberto Bordin5Ghada Badawy6Sasa Gazibegovic7Erik P. A. M. Bakkers8Leo P. Kouwenhoven9QuTech and Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech and Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech and Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech and Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech and Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of TechnologyQuTech and Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of TechnologyDepartment of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of TechnologyDepartment of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of TechnologyDepartment of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of TechnologyQuTech and Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of TechnologyAbstract Tunneling spectroscopy is widely used to examine the subgap spectra in semiconductor-superconductor nanostructures when searching for Majorana zero modes (MZMs). Typically, semiconductor sections controlled by local gates at the ends of hybrids serve as tunnel barriers. Besides detecting states only at the hybrid ends, such gate-defined tunnel probes can cause the formation of non-topological subgap states that mimic MZMs. Here, we develop an alternative type of tunnel probes to overcome these limitations. After the growth of an InSb-Al hybrid nanowire, a precisely controlled in-situ oxidation of the Al shell is performed to yield a nm-thick AlOx layer. In such thin isolating layer, tunnel probes can be arbitrarily defined at any position along the hybrid nanowire by shadow-wall angle-deposition of metallic leads. In this work, we make multiple tunnel probes along single nanowire hybrids and successfully identify Andreev bound states (ABSs) of various spatial extension residing along the hybrids.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42422-z |
| spellingShingle | Vukan Levajac Ji-Yin Wang Cristina Sfiligoj Mathilde Lemang Jan Cornelis Wolff Alberto Bordin Ghada Badawy Sasa Gazibegovic Erik P. A. M. Bakkers Leo P. Kouwenhoven Subgap spectroscopy along hybrid nanowires by nm-thick tunnel barriers Nature Communications |
| title | Subgap spectroscopy along hybrid nanowires by nm-thick tunnel barriers |
| title_full | Subgap spectroscopy along hybrid nanowires by nm-thick tunnel barriers |
| title_fullStr | Subgap spectroscopy along hybrid nanowires by nm-thick tunnel barriers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Subgap spectroscopy along hybrid nanowires by nm-thick tunnel barriers |
| title_short | Subgap spectroscopy along hybrid nanowires by nm-thick tunnel barriers |
| title_sort | subgap spectroscopy along hybrid nanowires by nm thick tunnel barriers |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42422-z |
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