Conductance Quantization at zero magnetic field in InSb nanowires

Jakob Kammhuber, Maja C. Cassidy, Hao Zhang, Önder Gül, Fei Pei, Michiel W. A. de Moor, Bas Nijholt, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Diana Car, Sebastien R. Plissard, Erik P. A. M. Bakkers, Leo P. Kouwenhoven

Published 2016-03-11Version 1

Ballistic electron transport is a key requirement for existence of a topological phase transition in proximitized InSb nanowires. However, measurements of quantized conductance as direct evidence of ballistic transport have so far been obscured due to the increased chance of backscattering in one dimensional nanowires. We show that by improving the nanowire-metal interface as well as the dielectric environment we can consistently achieve conductance quantization at zero magnetic field. Additionally, studying the sub-band evolution in a rotating magnetic field reveals an orbital degeneracy between the second and third sub-bands for perpendicular fields above 1T.