Gallium nanolayers featuring on-chip superconductivity in silicon

We demonstrate the feasibility of embedding superconducting Ga nanolayers in commercial (100) oriented silicon wafers and discuss the possibility of potential device applications [1]. Ion implantation and rapid thermal annealing, known as versatile tools of microelectronic technology, have been used for inserting and distributing a gallium dose of up to 4 × 10¹⁶ cm². As proven by structural analysis, a 10 nm thin layer of amorphous Ga-rich precipitates forms during annealing at 600 - 700°C. These structures exhibit a superconducting transition at 7 K. Extended resistivity and magnetization measurements reveal in-plane critical fields around 14 T and critical current densities exceeding 2 kA/cm². In summary, we proceed with an optimistic outlook concerning the implementation of prospective microstructuring. After all, this would be the next step towards the development of novel semiconductor-based superconducting devices.