Designing Quantum Matter with Superconducting Nanowires

非技术描述：在接近绝对零度的温度下，超导体在没有任何电阻的情况下导电。这种性质是电子之间特定相互作用的结果，这导致电子将自己组织成一种集体状态，使它们不受散射的影响。在纳米级样品中，这种集体状态的性质是脆弱的，可以通过控制样品及其环境的物理性质来操纵。该项目使用定制开发的制造和测量技术，具有前所未有的能力，旨在设计，操纵和研究超导纳米线中电子的集体量子态。 该研究在培养学生掌握尖端纳米制造和低温测量技术的同时，重点是创建一个用于电子集体量子态基础研究的模型系统，这将带来应用的可能性新型逻辑、传感和量子计算技术。技术描述：该项目旨在通过控制纹理、底层势和边界条件来定制和调整超导序参量的纹理。研究团队开发了动态模板沉积和受控蚀刻技术，用于实现对纳米线尺寸和物理纹理的精确控制，而石墨烯和拓扑绝缘体材料分别提供可调的静电环境和自旋纹理。这个模型系统的可调性提供了令人兴奋的机会，以解决悬而未决的问题，但也创造了新的量子态的物质，还没有被研究，甚至考虑之前，可能会带来一个范式转变的量子相变的研究。其主要目标是创造和控制新的量子态，促进对量子物质的基本理解，并利用量子自由度来实现许多可能的应用。

Non-technical description:At temperatures near absolute zero, superconductors conduct electricity without any resistance. This property is a consequence of a particular interaction between electrons, which causes the electrons to organize themselves into a collective state that renders them immune to scattering. In nanoscale samples, the nature of this collective state is fragile and can be manipulated by controlling the physical properties of the samples and their environment. Using custom developed fabrication and measurement techniques with unprecedented capabilities, this project aims to design, manipulate and investigate collective quantum states of electrons in superconducting nanowires. While serving to train students on cutting edge nanofabrication and low-temperature measurement techniques, the research is focused on creating a model system for a fundamental study of collective quantum states of electrons that will bring about the possibilities of applications in novel logic, sensing and quantum computing technologies.Technical description:The project aims to tailor and tune the texture of the superconducting order parameter by controlling the texture, the underlying potentials and the boundary conditions. The research team has developed a dynamic stencil deposition and controlled etching techniques, which are used to achieve precise control over the size and physical texture of the nanowires, while graphene and topological insulator materials provide a tunable electrostatic environment and a spin texture, respectively. The tunability of this model system provides exciting opportunities to address unanswered questions, but also to create new quantum states of matter that have not been studied or even considered before, possibly bringing about a paradigm shift in the study of quantum phase transitions. The main goal is to create and control new quantum states, contribute to fundamental understanding of quantum matter, and harness the quantum degrees of freedom for a host of possible applications.