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"Researchers have made germanium superconducting for the first time, a feat that could transform computing and quantum technologies. Using molecular beam epitaxy to embed gallium atoms precisely, the team stabilized the crystal structure to carry current without resistance. The discovery paves the way for scalable, energy-efficient quantum devices and cryogenic electronics."
From the abstract:
"Doping-induced superconductivity in group-IV elements may enable quantum functionalities in material systems accessible with well-established semiconductor technologies.
Non-equilibrium hyperdoping of group-III atoms into C, Si or Ge can yield superconductivity; however, its origin is obscured by structural disorder and dopant clustering.
Here we report the epitaxial growth of hyperdoped Ga:Ge films and trilayer heterostructures by molecular-beam epitaxy with extreme hole concentrations (nh = 4.15 × 1021 cm−3, 17.9% Ga substitution) that yield superconductivity with a critical temperature of Tc = 3.5 K.
Synchrotron-based X-ray absorption and scattering methods reveal that Ga dopants are substitutionally incorporated within the Ge lattice, introducing a tetragonal distortion to the crystal unit cell.
Our findings, corroborated by first-principles calculations, suggest that the structural order of Ga dopants creates a narrow band for the emergence of superconductivity in Ge, establishing hyperdoped Ga:Ge as a low-disorder, epitaxial superconductor–semiconductor platform."
Scientists turn common semiconductor into a superconductor "A team has made germanium, a key semiconductor, superconducting by precisely integrating gallium atoms into its crystal lattice."
Superconductivity in substitutional Ga-hyperdoped Ge epitaxial thin films (no public access)
Superconductivity in Substitutional Ga-Hyperdoped Ge Epitaxial Thin Films (preprint, open access)
Figure 1:Superconductivity in germanium by p-type hyperdoping
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