Non‐Destructive Laser Nanopatterning of Superconducting Heterostructures in Topological Sn Thin Films

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Authors: Lê Đức Anh, Takahiro Saeki, Keita Ishihara, Daiki Nishigaki, Hideki Maki, Masaaki Tanaka
Cited by: 1
References: 39

Abstract

ABSTRACT Heterostructures composed of superconductors and topological materials have emerged as compelling platforms for realizing topological superconductivity and fault‐tolerant quantum computation. A critical bottleneck, however, lies in achieving atomically clean and structurally coherent interfaces between dissimilar materials. Here, we report the fabrication of high‐quality planar heterostructures composed of the topological Dirac semimetal (TDS) α‐Sn and the superconducting β‐Sn phase, achieved by focused laser irradiation on α‐Sn thin films. The irradiated regions undergo a phase transition from α‐Sn to β‐Sn, exhibiting atomically smooth surfaces with a root mean square (RMS) roughness of just 0.75 nm. The laser‐induced β‐Sn demonstrates superconductivity with a critical temperature of 3.7 K and a Ginzburg–Landau coherence length ( ξ GL ) of 68.2 nm. Notably, β‐Sn nanowires patterned through this method exhibit a pronounced superconducting diode effect, reaching a maximum rectification ratio ( η ) of 10.8%. These findings establish laser irradiation as a versatile, non‐destructive, and scalable approach for fabricating high‐quality α‐Sn/β‐Sn heterostructures, offering a promising route toward next‐generation superconducting quantum devices.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Topological Materials and Phenomena Electronic and Structural Properties of Oxides Surface and Thin Film Phenomena

Publication details

Journal / source
Advanced Materials
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
38
Issue
13
Pages
e12571–e12571
Publication date
24 January 2026
Language
EN