Reducing disorder in PbTe nanowires for Majorana research

Abstract

Material challenges are the key issue in Majorana research where surface disorder constrains device performance. Here, we tackle this challenge by embedding PbTe nanowires within a lattice-constant-matched crystal. The wire edges are shaped by self-organized growth instead of lithography, resulting in nearly-atomic-flat facets along both cross-sectional and longitudinal directions. Quantized conductance is observed at zero magnetic field with channel lengths maximally reaching 1.7 $\mu$m, significantly surpassing the state-of-the-art of III-V nanowires (an order-of-magnitude improvement compared to InSb). Coupling PbTe to a Pb film unveils a flat interface spanning microns and a large superconducting gap of 1 meV. Our result not only represents a stride toward meeting the stringent low-disorder requirement for Majoranas, but may also open the door to various hybrid quantum devices requiring a low level of disorder.

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Quantized Andreev conductance in semiconductor nanowires
• Anisotropy of PbTe nanowires with and without a superconductor
• Enhanced superconductivity in PbTe-In hybrids
• Strong enhancement of g-factor in PbTe-Pb hybrid nanowires
• Presence versus absence of charging energies in PbTe quantum dots
• Gate-tunable superconductor-semiconductor coupling and its impact on zero-energy modes in PbTe-Pb nanowires
• Growth and fabrication of advanced PbTe-Pb quantum devices