Versatile Method of Engineering the Band Alignment and the Electron Wavefunction Hybridization of Hybrid Quantum Devices

TL;DR

This paper presents a versatile fabrication method using argon milling to precisely control band alignment and electron wavefunction hybridization in superconductor-semiconductor hybrid quantum devices, enhancing device quality and tunability.

Contribution

It introduces a generic argon milling technique for high-quality interface engineering in S-Sm devices, enabling control over band bending and hybridization properties.

Findings

Atomically connected S-Sm interfaces with large induced gaps

Demonstrated tunable band bending via argon milling

Observed coexistence and tunability of CAR and ECT processes

Abstract

With the development of quantum technology, hybrid devices that combine superconductors (S) and semiconductors (Sm) have attracted great attention due to the possibility of engineering structures that benefit from the integration of the properties of both materials. However, until now, none of the experiments have reported good control of band alignment at the interface, which determines the strength of S-Sm coupling and the proximitized superconducting gap. Here, we fabricate hybrid devices in a generic way with argon milling to modify the interface while maintaining its high quality. First, after the milling the atomically connected S-Sm interfaces appear, resulting in a large induced gap, as well as the ballistic transport revealed by the multiple Andreev reflections and quantized above-gap conductance plateaus. Second, by comparing transport measurement with Schr\"odinger-Poisson (SP) calculations, we demonstrate that argon milling is capable of varying the band bending strength in the semiconducting wire as the electrons tend to accumulate on the etched surface for longer milling time. Finally, we perform nonlocal measurements on advanced devices to demonstrate the coexistence and tunability of crossed Andreev reflection (CAR) and elastic co-tunneling (ECT) -- key ingredients for building the prototype setup for realization of Kitaev chain and quantum entanglement probing. Such a versatile method, compatible with the standard fabrication process and accompanied by the well-controlled modification of the interface, will definitely boost the creation of more sophisticated hybrid devices for exploring physics in solid-state systems.