III-V semiconductor nanowires have shown great potential in various quantum transport experiments. However, realizing a scalable high-quality nanowire-based platform that could lead to quantum information applications has been challenging. Here, we study the potential of selective area growth by molecular beam epitaxy of InAs nanowire networks grown on GaAs-based buffer layers. The buffered geometry allows for substantial elastic strain relaxation and a strong enhancement of field effect mobility. We show that the networks possess strong spin-orbit interaction and long phase coherence lengths with a temperature dependence indicating ballistic transport. With these findings, and the compatibility of the growth method with hybrid epitaxy, we conclude that the material platform fulfills the requirements for a wide range of quantum experiments and applications.Material science plays a key role in quantum computing research. Long quantum state lifetimes -the fundamental prerequisite for realizing quantum computers -rely on the ability to produce materials with high purity and structural quality. Together with the requirements of scalability and reproducibility, these properties are what mainly defines the challenges of material science in quantum computing today. Proposals for topological quantum computing, 1-3 which are based on hybrid semiconductor-superconductor nanowire (NW) networks, are being pursued by numerous research groups and have ignited intense research efforts on hybrid epitaxy. 4-8 NW scalability is tightly related to the semiconductor growth approach. Top-down lithography has been used to define NWs in two-dimensional layers 5,9 and a variety of methods have been pursued for alignment and positioning of bottom-up vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) grown NWs, such as dielectrophoresis techniques, 10 nanoscale combing 11 and magnetic aligning of NWs. 12 Despite of these developments, large-scale synthesis of bottom-up grown high-mobility NW networks that are compatible with epitaxial interwire connections and semiconductor/superconductor epitaxy has still not been realized. To realize the epitaxial connections, a lot of effort has been put into the growth of branched NWs via the VLS method. 8,13-15 A scalable approach has been developed in Ref. [16,17] using template assisted growth of inplane NW networks. 18 Nonetheless, this approach is not yet compatible with superconductor epitaxy. An alternative scalable approach is to use lithographically defined openings in a mask on a crystalline substrate. This method is referred to as selective area growth (SAG) and until recently has mainly been used in conjunction with metal organic chemical vapour deposition 19,20 , metal organic vapour phase epitaxy 21,22 , chemical beam epitaxy and metal organic molecular beam epitaxy (chemical beam epitaxy). [23][24][25][26] In contrast to molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), the dissociation kinetics of the chemical precursors in these methods enhance the growth selectivity on masked substrates by expanding the growth parameter window, ...

Gate-tunable junctions are key elements in quantum devices based on hybrid semiconductor–superconductor materials. They serve multiple purposes ranging from tunnel spectroscopy probes to voltage-controlled qubit operations in gatemon and topological qubits. Common to all is that junction transparency plays a critical role. In this study, we grow single-crystalline InAs, InSb, and InAs1–x Sb x semiconductor nanowires with epitaxial Al, Sn, and Pb superconductors and in situ shadowed junctions in a single-step molecular beam epitaxy process. We investigate correlations between fabrication parameters, junction morphologies, and electronic transport properties of the junctions and show that the examined in situ shadowed junctions are of significantly higher quality than the etched junctions. By varying the edge sharpness of the shadow junctions, we show that the sharpest edges yield the highest junction transparency for all three examined semiconductors. Further, critical supercurrent measurements reveal an extraordinarily high I C R N, close to the KO-2 limit. This study demonstrates a promising engineering path toward reliable gate-tunable superconducting qubits.

In floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (FC-CVD), tuning chirality distribution and obtaining narrow chirality distribution of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is challenging. Herein, by introducing various amount of CO2 in FC-CVD using CO as a carbon source, we have succeeded in directly synthesizing SWCNT films with tunable chirality distribution as well as tunable colors. In particular, with 0.25 and 0.37 volume percent of CO2, the SWCNT films display green and brown colors, respectively. We ascribed various colors to suitable diameter and narrow chirality distribution of SWCNTs. Additionally, by optimizing reactor temperature, we achieved much narrower (n,m) distribution clustered around (11,9) with extremely narrow diameter range (>98% between 1.2 and 1.5 nm). We propose that CO2 may affect CO disproportionation and nucleation modes of SWCNTs, resulting in SWCNTs’ various diameter ranges. Our work could provide a new route for high-yield and direct synthesis of SWCNTs with narrow chirality distribution and offer potential applications in electronics, such as touch sensors or transistors.

Nanowires can serve as flexible substrates for hybrid epitaxial growth on selected facets, allowing for design of heterostructures with complex material combinations and geometries. In this work we report on hybrid epitaxy of semiconductor -ferromagnetic insulator -superconductor (InAs/EuS/Al) nanowire heterostructures. We study the crystal growth and complex epitaxial matching of wurtzite InAs / rock-salt EuS interfaces as well as rock-salt EuS / face-centered cubic Al interfaces. Because of the magnetic anisotropy originating from the nanowire shape, the magnetic structure of the EuS phase are easily tuned into single magnetic domains. This effect efficiently ejects the stray field lines along the nanowires. With tunnel spectroscopy measurements of the density of states, we show the material has a hard induced superconducting gap, and magnetic hysteretic evolution which indicates that the magnetic exchange fields are not negligible. These hybrid nanowires fulfil key material requirements for serving as a platform for spin-based quantum applications, such as scalable topological quantum computing.

Hybrid semiconductor -ferromagnetic insulator heterostructures are interesting due to their tunable electronic transport, self-sustained stray field and local proximitized magnetic exchange. In this work, we present lattice matched hybrid epitaxy of semiconductor -ferromagnetic insulator InAs/EuS heterostructures and analyze the atomic-scale structure as well as their electronic and magnetic characteristics. The Fermi level at the InAs/EuS interface is found to be close to the InAs conduction band and in the bandgap of EuS, thus preserving the semiconducting properties. Both neutron and X-ray reflectivity measurements show that the ferromagnetic component is mainly localized in the EuS thin film with a suppression of the Eu moment in the EuS layer nearest the InAs. Induced moments in the adjacent InAs layers were not detected although our ab initio calculations indicate a small exchange field in the InAs layer. This work presents a step towards realizing high quality semiconductor -ferromagnetic insulator hybrids, which is a critical requirement for development of various quantum and spintronic applications without external magnetic fields.

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, the high workload, risk of infection, and safety issues for family members may pose a threat to the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) working in hospital settings. The study aimed to find out the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and insomnia symptoms were among HCWs, as well as the factors related to these mental health issues. Methods We conducted an online survey of HCWs employed in Dhaka city from June 6 to July 6, 2020. Symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia were measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder, the depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire, and the Insomnia Severity Index, respectively. The related factors of anxiety, depression, and insomnia symptoms were identified using three regression models. Results This research included responses from 294 HCWs (mean ± standard deviation age: 28.86 ± 5.5 years; 43.5% were female). Anxiety, depression, and insomnia symptoms were found in 20.7%, 26.5%, and 44.2% of HCWs, respectively. The variable financial difficulties was commonly found as an associated factor for anxiety, depression, and insomnia symptoms. Female HCWs were more prone to mental health symptoms and insomnia compared to male HCWs (Adjusted odds ratio- AOR = 2.20, 95% CI = 1.27–3.79). The depression symptoms among HCWs were found to be a factor for insomnia (AOR = 6.321, 95% CI = 3.158–12.650). Conclusion In the current pandemic, the high prevalence of mental health symptoms among HCWs indicates that this occupational group being associated with increased mental distress. Increasing financial support for HCWs and providing support to female workers in care facilities could help to alleviate the burden of mental illness. Supportive, training, and educational strategies, particularly through knowledge and communication platforms, could be recommended to the care facilities, which can reduce the burden of mental health symptoms among HCWs.

Optimized geometry of single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is vital to high‐performance transparent conductive films (TCFs). Herein, the geometry of SWCNTs, i.e., tube diameter, bundle length, and bundle diameter, are successfully tuned by introducing carbon dioxide (CO2) into floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (FC‐CVD), where carbon monoxide (CO) is used as a carbon source and ferrocene as a catalyst precursor. Both tube diameter and bundle length increase with an increment of CO2 concentration, and the yield of SWCNTs can be significantly promoted with the appropriate amount of CO2. The role of CO2 in this behavior is further rationalized as enhancing CO decomposition or carbon dissolution into catalysts. The TCFs based on SWCNTs with optimized geometry by CO2 exhibit improved performance up to 86.8 Ω sq−1 at 90% transmittance after AuCl3 doping, achieving about 50% reduction of sheet resistance compared to the TCFs without CO2. The use of CO2 for directly tuning growth of SWCNTs blazes a new trail in the field of SWCNT based TCFs.

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