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Main Authors: Aspegren, Markus, Mkolongo, Chris, Lehmann, Sebastian, Dick, Kimberly, Burke, Adam, Thelander, Claes
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.23019
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author Aspegren, Markus
Mkolongo, Chris
Lehmann, Sebastian
Dick, Kimberly
Burke, Adam
Thelander, Claes
author_facet Aspegren, Markus
Mkolongo, Chris
Lehmann, Sebastian
Dick, Kimberly
Burke, Adam
Thelander, Claes
contents We realize strongly confined quantum dots (QDs) in InAs nanowires (NWs) by combining epitaxial crystal-phase control with chemical wet etching. A strong axial confinement is first introduced by growing closely spaced wurtzite (WZ) tunnel barriers in NWs to enclose a zinc blende (ZB) QD. The NW cross-section is then reduced by isotropic etching to obtain very small QDs, with a maximum observed charging energy > 30 meV. Using low-temperature electrical characterization and finite-element method simulations, we study how charging energies and the onset of electron filling scale with QD diameter. For extremely small diameters, we identify a regime where stray capacitances become non-negligible, limiting further increase in charging energy by diameter reduction alone. This approach to increasing confinement is particularly relevant for understanding the strong spin-orbit interaction observed in crystal-phase QDs, possibly linked to polarization charges at the WZ/ZB interfaces. Small diameter QDs allow considerably weaker interfering electric fields when studied, but the QDs cannot be realized with epitaxial growth alone due to a loss of crystal phase control.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_23019
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Radial etching of strongly confined crystal-phase defined quantum dots
Aspegren, Markus
Mkolongo, Chris
Lehmann, Sebastian
Dick, Kimberly
Burke, Adam
Thelander, Claes
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
We realize strongly confined quantum dots (QDs) in InAs nanowires (NWs) by combining epitaxial crystal-phase control with chemical wet etching. A strong axial confinement is first introduced by growing closely spaced wurtzite (WZ) tunnel barriers in NWs to enclose a zinc blende (ZB) QD. The NW cross-section is then reduced by isotropic etching to obtain very small QDs, with a maximum observed charging energy > 30 meV. Using low-temperature electrical characterization and finite-element method simulations, we study how charging energies and the onset of electron filling scale with QD diameter. For extremely small diameters, we identify a regime where stray capacitances become non-negligible, limiting further increase in charging energy by diameter reduction alone. This approach to increasing confinement is particularly relevant for understanding the strong spin-orbit interaction observed in crystal-phase QDs, possibly linked to polarization charges at the WZ/ZB interfaces. Small diameter QDs allow considerably weaker interfering electric fields when studied, but the QDs cannot be realized with epitaxial growth alone due to a loss of crystal phase control.
title Radial etching of strongly confined crystal-phase defined quantum dots
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.23019