Selective-area growth is a promising technique for enabling of the fabrication of the scalable III–V nanowire networks required to test proposals for Majorana-based quantum computing devices. However, the contours of the growth parameter window resulting in selective growth remain undefined. Herein, we present a set of experimental techniques that unambiguously establish the parameter space window resulting in selective III–V nanowire networks growth by molecular beam epitaxy. Selectivity maps are constructed for both GaAs and InAs compounds based on in situ characterization of growth kinetics on GaAs(001) substrates, where the difference in group III adatom desorption rates between the III–V surface and the amorphous mask area is identified as the primary mechanism governing selectivity. The broad applicability of this method is demonstrated by the successful realization of high-quality InAs and GaAs nanowire networks on GaAs, InP, and InAs substrates of both (001) and (111)B orientations as well as homoepitaxial InSb nanowire networks. Finally, phase coherence in Aharonov–Bohm ring experiments validates the potential of these crystals for nanoelectronics and quantum transport applications. This work should enable faster and better nanoscale crystal engineering over a range of compound semiconductors for improved device performance.

The number of electrons in small metallic or semiconducting islands is quantised. When tunnelling is enabled via opaque barriers this number can change by an integer. In superconductors the addition is in units of two electron charges (2e), reflecting that the Cooper pair condensate must have an even parity. This ground state (GS) is foundational for all superconducting qubit devices. Here, we study a hybrid superconducting–semiconducting island and find three typical GS evolutions in a parallel magnetic field: a robust 2e-periodic even-parity GS, a transition to a 2e-periodic odd-parity GS, and a transition from a 2e- to a 1e-periodic GS. The 2e-periodic odd-parity GS persistent in gate-voltage occurs when a spin-resolved subgap state crosses zero energy. For our 1e-periodic GSs we explicitly show the origin being a single zero-energy state gapped from the continuum, i.e., compatible with an Andreev bound states stabilized at zero energy or the presence of Majorana zero modes.

The realization of hybrid superconductor–semiconductor quantum devices, in particular a topological qubit, calls for advanced techniques to readily and reproducibly engineer induced superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires. Here, we introduce an on-chip fabrication paradigm based on shadow walls that offers substantial advances in device quality and reproducibility. It allows for the implementation of hybrid quantum devices and ultimately topological qubits while eliminating fabrication steps such as lithography and etching. This is critical to preserve the integrity and homogeneity of the fragile hybrid interfaces. The approach simplifies the reproducible fabrication of devices with a hard induced superconducting gap and ballistic normal-/superconductor junctions. Large gate-tunable supercurrents and high-order multiple Andreev reflections manifest the exceptional coherence of the resulting nanowire Josephson junctions. Our approach enables the realization of 3-terminal devices, where zero-bias conductance peaks emerge in a magnetic field concurrently at both boundaries of the one-dimensional hybrids.

High aspect-ratio InSb nanowires (NWs) of high chemical purity are sought for implementing advanced quantum devices. The growth of InSb NWs is challenging, generally requiring a stem of a foreign material for nucleation. Such a stem tends to limit the length of InSb NWs and its material becomes incorporated in the InSb segment. Here, we report on the growth of chemically pure InSb NWs tens of microns long. Using a selective-area mask in combination with gold as a catalyst allows complete omission of the stem, thus demonstrating that InSb NWs can grow directly from the substrate. The introduction of the selective-area mask gives rise to novel growth kinetics, demonstrating high growth rates and complete suppression of layer deposition on the mask for Sb-rich conditions. The crystal quality and chemical purity of these NWs is reflected in the significant enhancement of low-temperature electron mobility, yielding an average of 4.4 × 104 cm2/(V s), compared to previously studied InSb NWs grown on stems.

Superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators that can operate in strong magnetic fields are important tools for a variety of high frequency superconducting devices. Magnetic fields degrade resonator performance by creating Abrikosov vortices that cause resistive losses and frequency fluctuations, or suppressing superconductivity entirely. To mitigate these effects we investigate lithographically defined artificial defects in resonators fabricated from NbTiN superconducting films. We show that by controlling the vortex dynamics the quality factor of resonators in perpendicular magnetic fields can be greatly enhanced. Coupled with the restriction of the device geometry to enhance the superconductors critical field, we demonstrate stable resonances that retain quality factors 10 5 at the single photon power level in perpendicular magnetic fields up to B ⊥ 20 mT and parallel magnetic fields up to B 6 T. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique for hybrid systems by integrating an InSb nanowire into a field resilient superconducting resonator, and use it to perform fast charge readout of a gate defined double quantum dot at B = 1 T.

We measure the charge periodicity of Coulomb blockade conductance oscillations of a hybrid InSb-Al island as a function of gate voltage and parallel magnetic field. The periodicity changes from 2e to 1e at a gate-dependent value of the magnetic field, B * , decreasing from a high to a low limit upon increasing the gate voltage. In the gate voltage region between the two limits, which our numerical simulations indicate to be the most promising for locating Majorana zero modes, we observe correlated oscillations of peak spacings and heights. For positive gate voltages, the 2e-1e transition with low B * is due to the presence of nontopological states whose energy quickly disperses below the charging energy due to the orbital effect of the magnetic field. Our measurements highlight the importance of a careful exploration of the entire available phase space of a proximitized nanowire as a prerequisite to define future topological qubits.

Semiconducting–superconducting hybrids are vital components for the realization of high‐performance nanoscale devices. In particular, semiconducting–superconducting nanowires attract widespread interest owing to the possible presence of non‐abelian Majorana zero modes, which are quasiparticles that hold promise for topological quantum computing. However, systematic search for Majoranas signatures is challenging because it requires reproducible hybrid devices and reliable fabrication methods. This work introduces a fabrication concept based on shadow walls that enables the in situ, selective, and consecutive depositions of superconductors and normal metals to form normal‐superconducting junctions. Crucially, this method allows to realize devices in a single shot, eliminating fabrication steps after the synthesis of the fragile semiconductor/superconductor interface. At the atomic level, all investigated devices reveal a sharp and defect‐free semiconducting–superconducting interface and, correspondingly, a hard induced superconducting gap resilient up to 2 T is measured electrically. While the cleanliness of the technique enables systematic studies of topological superconductivity in nanowires, it also allows for the synthesis of advanced nano‐devices based on a wide range of material combinations and geometries while maintaining an exceptionally high interface quality.

Highly uniform quantum systems are essential for the practical implementation of scalable quantum processors. While quantum dot spin qubits based on semiconductor technology are a promising platform for large-scale quantum computing, their small size makes them particularly sensitive to their local environment. Here, we present a method to electrically obtain a high degree of uniformity in the intrinsic potential landscape using hysteretic shifts of the gate voltage characteristics. We demonstrate the tuning of pinch-off voltages in quantum dot devices over hundreds of millivolts that then remain stable at least for hours. Applying our method, we homogenize the pinch-off voltages of the plunger gates in a linear array for four quantum dots, reducing the spread in pinch-off voltages by one order of magnitude. This work provides a new tool for the tuning of quantum dot devices and offers new perspectives for the implementation of scalable spin qubit arrays.