ABSTRACT
Selective-area epitaxy provides a path toward high crystal quality, scalable, complex nanowire networks. These high-quality networks could be used in topological quantum computing as well as in ultrafast photodetection schemes. Control of the carrier density and mean free path in these devices is key for all of these applications. Factors that affect the mean free path include scattering by surfaces, donors, defects, and impurities. Here, we demonstrate how to reduce donor scattering in InGaAs nanowire networks by adopting a remote-doping strategy. Low-temperature magnetotransport measurements indicate weak anti-localization-a signature of strong spin-orbit interaction-across a nanowire Y-junction. This work serves as a blueprint for achieving remotely doped, ultraclean, and scalable nanowire networks for quantum technologies.
ABSTRACT
Topological qubits based on Majorana Fermions have the potential to revolutionize the emerging field of quantum computing by making information processing significantly more robust to decoherence. Nanowires are a promising medium for hosting these kinds of qubits, though branched nanowires are needed to perform qubit manipulations. Here we report a gold-free templated growth of III-V nanowires by molecular beam epitaxy using an approach that enables patternable and highly regular branched nanowire arrays on a far greater scale than what has been reported thus far. Our approach relies on the lattice-mismatched growth of InAs on top of defect-free GaAs nanomembranes yielding laterally oriented, low-defect InAs and InGaAs nanowires whose shapes are determined by surface and strain energy minimization. By controlling nanomembrane width and growth time, we demonstrate the formation of compositionally graded nanowires with cross-sections less than 50 nm. Scaling the nanowires below 20 nm leads to the formation of homogeneous InGaAs nanowires, which exhibit phase-coherent, quasi-1D quantum transport as shown by magnetoconductance measurements. These results are an important advance toward scalable topological quantum computing.