Anisotropy of PbTe nanowires with and without a superconductor

TL;DR

This study explores the anisotropic properties of PbTe nanowires and hybrid PbTe-Pb structures, demonstrating reproducible anisotropy control and revealing gate-tunable deviations due to spin-orbit and orbital effects, guiding quantum state engineering.

Contribution

It presents reproducible anisotropy in PbTe nanowires and uncovers gate-tunable anisotropy deviations in hybrid structures caused by charge transfer effects.

Findings

Reproducible anisotropy achieved in PbTe nanowires.

Gate-tunable anisotropy deviations observed in hybrid PbTe-Pb nanowires.

Charge transfer influences anisotropic behavior via spin-orbit and orbital effects.

Abstract

We investigate the anisotropic behaviors in PbTe and PbTe-Pb hybrid nanowires. In previous studies on PbTe, wire-to-wire variations in anisotropy indicate poor device control, posing a serious challenge for applications. Here, we achieve reproducible anisotropy in PbTe nanowires through a substantial reduction of disorder. We then couple PbTe to a superconductor Pb, and observe a pronounced deviation in the anisotropy behavior compared to bare PbTe nanowires. This deviation is gate-tunable and attributed to spin-orbit interaction and orbital effect, controlled by charge transfer between Pb and PbTe. These results provide a guidance for the controlled engineering of exotic quantum states in this hybrid material platform.