Universal Platform for Scalable Semiconductor-Superconductor Nanowire Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a scalable, etching-free method for fabricating semiconductor-superconductor nanowire networks using directional growth and shadowing techniques, improving interface quality for quantum computing applications.

Contribution

It presents a novel bottom-up fabrication approach that avoids damaging etching processes, enabling precise, scalable, and reproducible hybrid nanostructures for topological quantum devices.

Findings

Successfully grew InSb nanowire networks with defined superconductor islands.

Achieved sharp, oxide-free semiconductor-superconductor interfaces.

Demonstrated independent shadow deposition of Pt and Pb for device scalability.

Abstract

Semiconductor-superconductor hybrids are commonly used in research on topological quantum computation. Traditionally, top-down approaches involving dry or wet etching are used to define the device geometry. These often aggressive processes risk causing damage to material surfaces, giving rise to scattering sites particularly problematic for quantum applications. Here, we propose a method that maintains the flexibility and scalability of selective area grown nanowire networks while omitting the necessity of etching to create hybrid segments. Instead, it takes advantage of directional growth methods and uses bottom-up grown InP structures as shadowing objects to obtain selective metal deposition. The ability to lithographically define the position and area of these objects, and to grow a predefined height, ensures precise control of the shadowed region. We demonstrate the approach by growing InSb nanowire networks with well-defined Al and Pb islands. Cross-section cuts of the nanowires reveal a sharp, oxide-free interface between semiconductor and superconductor. By growing InP structures on both sides of in-plane nanowires, a combination of Pt and Pb can independently be shadow deposited, enabling a scalable and reproducible in-situ device fabrication. The semiconductor-superconductor nanostructures resulting from this approach are at the forefront of material development for Majorana based experiments.