Topotactic fabrication of transition metal dichalcogenide superconducting nanocircuits.

Wang, Xiaohan; Wang, Hao; Ma, Liang; Zhang, Labao; Yang, Zhuolin; Dong, Daxing; Chen, Xi; Li, Haochen et al. · Nat Commun · 2023

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Superconducting nanocircuits, which are usually fabricated from superconductor films, are the core of superconducting electronic devices. While emerging transition-metal dichalcogenide superconductors (TMDSCs) with exotic properties show promise for exploiting new superconducting mechanisms and applications, their environmental instability leads to a substantial challenge for the nondestructive preparation of TMDSC nanocircuits. Here, we report a universal strategy to fabricate TMDSC nanopatterns via a topotactic conversion method using prepatterned metals as precursors. Typically, robust NbSe<sub>2</sub> meandering nanowires can be controllably manufactured on a wafer scale, by which a superconducting nanowire circuit is principally demonstrated toward potential single photon detection. Moreover, versatile superconducting nanocircuits, e.g., periodical circle/triangle hole arrays and spiral nanowires, can be prepared with selected TMD materials (NbS<sub>2</sub>, TiSe<sub>2</sub>, or MoTe<sub>2</sub>). This work provides a generic approach for fabricating nondestructive TMDSC nanocircuits with precise control, which paves the way for the application of TMDSCs in future electronics.