# US 2021/0083166 A1 · Semiconductor-superconductor heterostructure > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0083166 A1 - Document ID: US20210083166A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/570,745 - Filed: 2019-09-13 - Published: 2021-03-18 - Earliest claimed: 2019-09-13 - Assignees: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC - Applicants: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC - Inventors: Dmitry Igorevich Pikulin; Geoffrey Charles Gardner; Raymond Leonard Kallaher; Georg Wolfgang Winkler; Sergei Vyatcheslavovich Gronin; Peter Krogstrup Jeppesen; Michael James Manfra; Andrey Antipov; Roman Mykolayovych Lutchyn - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210083166A1 ## CPC - B82Y 10/00: Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic - H10N 60/805: {for Josephson-effect devices} - H10D 48/3835: {Semiconductor qubit devices comprising a plurality of quantum mechanically interacting semiconductor quantum dots, e.g. Loss-DiVincenzo spin qubits} - H10N 60/01: Manufacture or treatment - H10N 60/0912: {of Josephson-effect devices} - H10N 60/10: Junction-based devices - H10N 60/12: Josephson-effect devices - H10N 60/85: Superconducting active materials - H10N 69/00: Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one superconducting element covered by group H10N60/00 - H10D 62/121: {oriented parallel to substrates} - B82Y: SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES - H10N: ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES ## Abstract A device comprising: a portion of semiconductor; a portion of superconductor arranged to a enable a topological phase having a topological gap to be induced in a region of the semiconductor by proximity effect; and a portion of a non-magnetic material comprising an element with atomic number Z greater than or equal to 26, arranged to increase the topological gap in the topological region of the semiconductor. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A device comprising: a portion of semiconductor; a portion of superconductor arranged to a enable a topological phase having a topological gap to be induced in a region of the semiconductor by proximity effect; and a portion of a non-magnetic material comprising an element with atomic number Z greater than or equal to 26, arranged to increase the topological gap in said region. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the portion comprising said element is disposed between the portion of semiconductor and the portion of superconductor. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the portion comprising said element is sandwiched between two layers of the portion of superconductor. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the portion comprising said element is disposed over the portion of superconductor. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein in the portion comprising said element, the element is not in a compound. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the portion comprising said element is a conductor. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein said element is a metal. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the atomic number Z of said element is greater than or equal to 46. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The device of claim 8, wherein said element is Ag. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The device of claim 8, wherein the atomic number Z of said element is greater than or equal to 78. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The device of claim 10, wherein said element is Pt, Au or Bi. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein said element is an element other than Fe, Ni, Co and Gd. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The device of any claim 1, wherein said element is an element other than Eu, Y, Sr and Re. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor comprises InAs, InSb, GaAs or GaSb. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the superconductor comprises Al. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, in the form of a topological quantum computing device comprising a network of semiconductor-superconductor nanowires, each nanowire comprising a length of semiconductor formed over a substrate and a coating of superconductor formed over at least part of the semiconductor; wherein said portion of semiconductor comprises the semiconductor of each nanowire, said portion of superconductor comprises the superconductor coating of each nanowire, and the portion of said element is disposed within one, some or all of the nanowires. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) A method of operating the topological quantum computing device of claim 16, comprising: cooling the device to a temperature inducing superconductivity in the superconductor; and applying a magnetic field to said region in order to lift spin-degeneracy in said region; thus creating said proximity effect in said region and inducing majorana zero modes in said region. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the magnetic field is applied from a magnet external to said device. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising gating one, some or all of the nanowires with an electrostatic potential. ### Claim 20 A method of fabricating a device, the method comprising: forming a portion of semiconductor over a substrate; and forming a portion of superconductor over the semiconductor, arranged to a enable a topological phase having a topological gap to be induced in a region of the semiconductor by proximity effect; wherein the method comprises forming a portion of a non-magnetic material comprising an element with atomic number Z greater than or equal to 26 either on the portion of semiconductor, between the portion of semiconductor and the portion of superconductor, or between two layers of the superconductor, the portion of said element thereby being arranged to increase the topological gap in said region.