Gate-controlled quantum dots and superconductivity in planar germanium.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30026466.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-05299-x and PMC identifier 6053419.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Superconductors and semiconductors are crucial platforms in the field of quantum computing. They can be combined to hybrids, bringing together physical properties that enable the discovery of new emergent phenomena and provide novel strategies for quantum control. The involved semiconductor materials, however, suffer from disorder, hyperfine interactions or lack of planar technology. Here we realise an approach that overcomes these issues altogether and integrate gate-defined quantum dots and superconductivity into germanium heterostructures. In our system, heavy holes with mobilities exceeding 500,000 cm<sup>2</sup> (Vs)<sup>-1</sup> are confined in shallow quantum wells that are directly contacted by annealed aluminium leads. We observe proximity-induced superconductivity in the quantum well and demonstrate electric gate-control of the supercurrent. Germanium therefore has great promise for fast and coherent quantum hardware and, being compatible with standard manufacturing, could become a leading material for quantum information processing.