Quantized conductance doubling and hard gap in a two-dimensional semiconductor–superconductor heterostructure

Coupling a two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor heterostructure to a superconductor opens new research and technology opportunities, including fundamental problems in mesoscopic superconductivity, scalable superconducting electronics, and new topological states of matter. One route towards topological matter is by coupling a 2D electron gas with strong spin–orbit interaction to an s-wave superconductor. Previous efforts along these lines have been adversely affected by interface disorder and unstable gating. Here we show measurements on a gateable InGaAs/InAs 2DEG with patterned epitaxial Al, yielding devices with atomically pristine interfaces between semiconductor and superconductor. Using surface gates to form a quantum point contact (QPC), we find a hard superconducting gap in the tunnelling regime. When the QPC is in the open regime, we observe a first conductance plateau at 4 e 2 / h , consistent with theory. The hard-gap semiconductor–superconductor system demonstrated here is amenable to top-down processing and provides a new avenue towards low-dissipation electronics and topological quantum systems. Interface transparency between 2D semiconductors and superconductors is a longstanding problem, seriously hindering potential applications. Here, using a new hybrid system, Kjaergaard et al . report quantized conductance doubling and a hard superconducting gap measured via a quantum point contact, indicating a near pristine interface.