https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220321103804.htm

Phan and his ISTA colleagues Jorden Senior and Andrew Higginbotham from the Condensed Matter and Quantum Circuits group conducted this study in close collaboration with partners from New York University and with theory support from Areg Ghazaryan and Maksym Serbyn from ISTA's Quantum Dynamics group. They developed a technique to probe the quantum interactions in super-semi sandwiches paving the way for new applications like topological quantum bits based on so-called Majorana zero modes.

For their experiment, the researchers created a microscopic sandwich made of an aluminium (Al) superconductor on top of an indium-arsenic (InAs) semiconductor. Superconductors are materials that have no electrical resistance. For that to happen, they are cooled down to close to absolute zero temperature. Semiconductors like InAs or silicon can be insulating or conduct electricity depending on their environment and applied electric field.