The quantum Hall (QH) effect supports a set of chiral edge states at the boundary of a 2-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) system. A superconductor (SC) contacting these states can induce correlations of the quasi-particles in the dissipationless 1D chiral QH edge states. If the superconducting electrode is narrower than the superconducting coherence length, the incoming electron is correlated to the outgoing hole along the chiral edge state by the Andreev process 1-3 across the SC electrode. In order to realise this crossed Andreev conversion (CAC) 4-7 , it is necessary to fabricate highly transparent and nanometer-scale superconducting junctions to the QH system. Here we report the observation of CAC in a graphene QH system contacted with a nanostructured NbN superconducting electrode. The chemical potential of the edge states across the SC electrode exhibits a sign reversal, providing direct evidence of CAC. This hybrid SC/QH system is a novel route to create isolated non-Abelian anyonic zero modes, in resonance with the chiral QH edge 7-12 .Inducing superconducting correlations via the proximity effect into a 2DEG in the QH regime has been a long standing challenge and has attracted renewed attentions due to its promise for realising non-Abealian zero modes [13][14][15] . Unlike conventional conductors, the 2DEG can exhibit an insulating incompressible bulk electronic state under perpendicular quantizing magnetic fields. In this QH regime, the conduction of electric charge occurs only along the edges via 1D chiral edge states, which the SC can make contacts to. In order to realise the hybrid system of QH and SC, the upper critical field of the SC needs to be high enough such that Cooper pairs in the SC are correlated mostly to the quasiparticles in well-developed 1D QH edge states. The experimental realisation of such hybrid systems often encounters challenges in semiconductor 2DEGs due to the formation of large Schottky barriers at the SC/semiconductor interfaces 16 . Graphene is a compelling candidate for the SC/QH platform, since the zero-band gap of graphene ensures Ohmic contacts for most metals, including SCs with high upper critical fields. Highly transparent SC/graphene interfaces have been demonstrated with strong superconducting proximity interactions and Josephson couplings 15,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23] . In addition, high mobility hBN-encapsulated graphene channels exhibit integer and fractional QH effects 24,25 at much lower magnetic field than the upper critical field of a few select SCs.

Magnetic random access memories based on the spin transfer torque phenomenon (STT-MRAMs) have become one of the leading candidates for next generation memory applications. Among the many attractive features of this technology are its potential for high speed and endurance, read signal margin, low power consumption, scalability, and non-volatility. In this paper, we discuss our recent results on perpendicular STT-MRAM stack designs that show STT efficiency higher than 5 kBT/μA, energy barriers higher than 100 kBT at room temperature for sub-40 nm diameter devices, and tunnel magnetoresistance higher than 150%. We use both single device data and results from 8 Mb array to demonstrate data retention sufficient for automotive applications. Moreover, we also demonstrate for the first time thermal stability up to 400 °C exceeding the requirement of Si CMOS back-end processing, thus opening the realm of non-volatile embedded memory to STT-MRAM technology.

Josephson junctions are superconducting devices used as high-sensitivity magnetometers and voltage amplifiers as well as the basis of high-performance cryogenic computers and superconducting quantum computers. Although device performance can be degraded by the generation of quasiparticles formed from broken Cooper pairs, this phenomenon also opens opportunities to sensitively detect electromagnetic radiation. We demonstrate single near-infrared photon detection by coupling photons to the localized surface plasmons of a graphene-based Josephson junction. Using the photon-induced switching statistics of the current-biased device, we reveal the critical role of quasiparticles generated by the absorbed photon in the detection mechanism. The photon sensitivity will enable a high-speed, low-power optical interconnect for future superconducting computing architectures.

No abstract

In two-dimensional (2D) NbSe2 crystal, which lacks inversion symmetry, strong spin-orbit coupling aligns the spins of Cooper pairs to the orbital valleys, forming Ising Cooper pairs (ICPs). The unusual spin texture of ICPs can be further modulated by introducing magnetic exchange. Here, we report unconventional supercurrent phase in van der Waals heterostructure Josephson junctions (JJs) that couples NbSe2 ICPs across an atomically thin magnetic insulator (MI) Cr2Ge2Te6. By constructing a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), we measure the phase of the transferred Cooper pairs in the MI JJ. We demonstrate a doubly degenerate nontrivial JJ phase (ϕ), formed by momentum-conserving tunneling of ICPs across magnetic domains in the barrier. The doubly degenerate ground states in MI JJs provide a two-level quantum system that can be utilized as a new dissipationless component for superconducting quantum devices. Our work boosts the study of various superconducting states with spin-orbit coupling, opening up an avenue to designing new superconducting phase-controlled quantum electronic devices.

In a Josephson junction (JJ) at zero bias, Cooper pairs are transported between two superconducting contacts via the Andreev bound states (ABSs) formed in the Josephson channel. Extending JJs to multiple superconducting contacts, the ABSs in the Josephson channel can coherently hybridize Cooper pairs among different superconducting electrodes. Biasing three-terminal JJs with antisymmetric voltages, for example, results in a direct current (DC) of Cooper quartet (CQ), which involves a four-fermion entanglement. Here, we report half a flux periodicity in the interference of CQ formed in graphene based multi-terminal (MT) JJs with a magnetic flux loop. We observe that the quartet differential conductance associated with supercurrent exhibits magneto-oscillations associated with a charge of 4e, thereby presenting evidence for interference between different CQ processes. The CQ critical current shows non-monotonic bias dependent behavior, which can be modeled by transitions between Floquet-ABSs. Our experimental observation for voltage-tunable non-equilibrium CQ-ABS in flux-loop-JJs significantly extends our understanding of MT-JJs, enabling future design of topologically unique ABS spectrum.

In an ultrathin topological insulator (TI) film, a hybridization gap opens in the TI surface states, and the system is expected to become either a trivial insulator or a quantum spin Hall insulator when the chemical potential is within the hybridization gap. Here we show, however, that these insulating states are destroyed by the presence of a large and long-range-correlated disorder potential, which converts the expected insulator into a metal. We perform transport measurements in ultrathin, dual-gated topological insulator films as a function of temperature, gate voltage, and magnetic field, and we observe a metallic-like, non-quantized conductivity, which exhibits a weak antilocalizationlike cusp at low magnetic field and gives way to a nonsaturating linear magnetoresistance at large field. We explain these results by considering the disordered network of electron-and hole-type puddles induced by charged impurities. We argue theoretically that such disorder can produce an insulator-to-metal transition as a function of increasing disorder strength, and we derive a condition on the band gap and the impurity concentration necessary to observe the insulating state. We also explain the linear magnetoresistance in terms of strong spatial fluctuations of the local conductivity, using both numerical simulations and a theoretical scaling argument.

No abstract