InAs on Insulator: A New Platform for Cryogenic Hybrid Superconducting Electronics

Superconducting circuits based on hybrid InAs Josephson Junctions (JJs) play a starring role in the design of fast and ultra-low power consumption solid-state quantum electronics and exploring novel physical phenomena. Conventionally, 3D substrates, 2D quantum wells (QWs), and 1D nanowires (NWs) made of InAs are employed to create superconducting circuits with hybrid JJs. Each platform has its advantages and disadvantages. Here, the InAs-on-insulator (InAsOI) is proposed as a groundbreaking platform for developing superconducting electronics. An epilayer of semiconducting InAs with different electron densities is grown onto an InAlAs metamorphic buffer, efficiently used as a cryogenic insulator to decouple adjacent devices electrically. JJs with various lengths and widths are fabricated employing Al as a superconductor and InAs with different electron densities. A switching current density of 7.3 µA µm−1, a critical voltage of 50-to-80 µV, and a critical temperature equal to that of the superconductor used are achieved. For all the JJs, the switching current follows a Fraunhofer-like pattern with the out-of-plane magnetic field. These achievements enable the use of InAsOI to design and fabricate surface-exposed Josephson Field Effect Transistors with high critical current densities and superior gating properties.