@article{14793, abstract = {Superconductor/semiconductor hybrid devices have attracted increasing interest in the past years. Superconducting electronics aims to complement semiconductor technology, while hybrid architectures are at the forefront of new ideas such as topological superconductivity and protected qubits. In this work, we engineer the induced superconductivity in two-dimensional germanium hole gas by varying the distance between the quantum well and the aluminum. We demonstrate a hard superconducting gap and realize an electrically and flux tunable superconducting diode using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). This allows to tune the current phase relation (CPR), to a regime where single Cooper pair tunneling is suppressed, creating a sin(2y) CPR. Shapiro experiments complement this interpretation and the microwave drive allows to create a diode with ≈ 100% efficiency. The reported results open up the path towards integration of spin qubit devices, microwave resonators and (protected) superconducting qubits on the same silicon technology compatible platform.}, author = {Valentini, Marco and Sagi, Oliver and Baghumyan, Levon and de Gijsel, Thijs and Jung, Jason and Calcaterra, Stefano and Ballabio, Andrea and Aguilera Servin, Juan L and Aggarwal, Kushagra and Janik, Marian and Adletzberger, Thomas and Seoane Souto, Rubén and Leijnse, Martin and Danon, Jeroen and Schrade, Constantin and Bakkers, Erik and Chrastina, Daniel and Isella, Giovanni and Katsaros, Georgios}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Parity-conserving Cooper-pair transport and ideal superconducting diode in planar germanium}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-023-44114-0}, volume = {15}, year = {2024}, } @article{15018, abstract = {The epitaxial growth of a strained Ge layer, which is a promising candidate for the channel material of a hole spin qubit, has been demonstrated on 300 mm Si wafers using commercially available Si0.3Ge0.7 strain relaxed buffer (SRB) layers. The assessment of the layer and the interface qualities for a buried strained Ge layer embedded in Si0.3Ge0.7 layers is reported. The XRD reciprocal space mapping confirmed that the reduction of the growth temperature enables the 2-dimensional growth of the Ge layer fully strained with respect to the Si0.3Ge0.7. Nevertheless, dislocations at the top and/or bottom interface of the Ge layer were observed by means of electron channeling contrast imaging, suggesting the importance of the careful dislocation assessment. The interface abruptness does not depend on the selection of the precursor gases, but it is strongly influenced by the growth temperature which affects the coverage of the surface H-passivation. The mobility of 2.7 × 105 cm2/Vs is promising, while the low percolation density of 3 × 1010 /cm2 measured with a Hall-bar device at 7 K illustrates the high quality of the heterostructure thanks to the high Si0.3Ge0.7 SRB quality.}, author = {Shimura, Yosuke and Godfrin, Clement and Hikavyy, Andriy and Li, Roy and Aguilera Servin, Juan L and Katsaros, Georgios and Favia, Paola and Han, Han and Wan, Danny and de Greve, Kristiaan and Loo, Roger}, issn = {1369-8001}, journal = {Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing}, keywords = {Mechanical Engineering, Mechanics of Materials, Condensed Matter Physics, General Materials Science}, number = {5}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Compressively strained epitaxial Ge layers for quantum computing applications}}, doi = {10.1016/j.mssp.2024.108231}, volume = {174}, year = {2024}, } @article{9887, abstract = {Clathrin-mediated endocytosis is the major route of entry of cargos into cells and thus underpins many physiological processes. During endocytosis, an area of flat membrane is remodeled by proteins to create a spherical vesicle against intracellular forces. The protein machinery which mediates this membrane bending in plants is unknown. However, it is known that plant endocytosis is actin independent, thus indicating that plants utilize a unique mechanism to mediate membrane bending against high-turgor pressure compared to other model systems. Here, we investigate the TPLATE complex, a plant-specific endocytosis protein complex. It has been thought to function as a classical adaptor functioning underneath the clathrin coat. However, by using biochemical and advanced live microscopy approaches, we found that TPLATE is peripherally associated with clathrin-coated vesicles and localizes at the rim of endocytosis events. As this localization is more fitting to the protein machinery involved in membrane bending during endocytosis, we examined cells in which the TPLATE complex was disrupted and found that the clathrin structures present as flat patches. This suggests a requirement of the TPLATE complex for membrane bending during plant clathrin–mediated endocytosis. Next, we used in vitro biophysical assays to confirm that the TPLATE complex possesses protein domains with intrinsic membrane remodeling activity. These results redefine the role of the TPLATE complex and implicate it as a key component of the evolutionarily distinct plant endocytosis mechanism, which mediates endocytic membrane bending against the high-turgor pressure in plant cells.}, author = {Johnson, Alexander J and Dahhan, Dana A and Gnyliukh, Nataliia and Kaufmann, Walter and Zheden, Vanessa and Costanzo, Tommaso and Mahou, Pierre and Hrtyan, Mónika and Wang, Jie and Aguilera Servin, Juan L and van Damme, Daniël and Beaurepaire, Emmanuel and Loose, Martin and Bednarek, Sebastian Y and Friml, Jiří}, issn = {1091-6490}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, number = {51}, publisher = {National Academy of Sciences}, title = {{The TPLATE complex mediates membrane bending during plant clathrin-mediated endocytosis}}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.2113046118}, volume = {118}, year = {2021}, } @article{7885, abstract = {Eukaryotic cells migrate by coupling the intracellular force of the actin cytoskeleton to the environment. While force coupling is usually mediated by transmembrane adhesion receptors, especially those of the integrin family, amoeboid cells such as leukocytes can migrate extremely fast despite very low adhesive forces1. Here we show that leukocytes cannot only migrate under low adhesion but can also transmit forces in the complete absence of transmembrane force coupling. When confined within three-dimensional environments, they use the topographical features of the substrate to propel themselves. Here the retrograde flow of the actin cytoskeleton follows the texture of the substrate, creating retrograde shear forces that are sufficient to drive the cell body forwards. Notably, adhesion-dependent and adhesion-independent migration are not mutually exclusive, but rather are variants of the same principle of coupling retrograde actin flow to the environment and thus can potentially operate interchangeably and simultaneously. As adhesion-free migration is independent of the chemical composition of the environment, it renders cells completely autonomous in their locomotive behaviour.}, author = {Reversat, Anne and Gärtner, Florian R and Merrin, Jack and Stopp, Julian A and Tasciyan, Saren and Aguilera Servin, Juan L and De Vries, Ingrid and Hauschild, Robert and Hons, Miroslav and Piel, Matthieu and Callan-Jones, Andrew and Voituriez, Raphael and Sixt, Michael K}, issn = {14764687}, journal = {Nature}, pages = {582–585}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Cellular locomotion using environmental topography}}, doi = {10.1038/s41586-020-2283-z}, volume = {582}, year = {2020}, } @article{988, abstract = {The current-phase relation (CPR) of a Josephson junction (JJ) determines how the supercurrent evolves with the superconducting phase difference across the junction. Knowledge of the CPR is essential in order to understand the response of a JJ to various external parameters. Despite the rising interest in ultraclean encapsulated graphene JJs, the CPR of such junctions remains unknown. Here, we use a fully gate-tunable graphene superconducting quantum intereference device (SQUID) to determine the CPR of ballistic graphene JJs. Each of the two JJs in the SQUID is made with graphene encapsulated in hexagonal boron nitride. By independently controlling the critical current of the JJs, we can operate the SQUID either in a symmetric or asymmetric configuration. The highly asymmetric SQUID allows us to phase-bias one of the JJs and thereby directly obtain its CPR. The CPR is found to be skewed, deviating significantly from a sinusoidal form. The skewness can be tuned with the gate voltage and oscillates in antiphase with Fabry-Pérot resistance oscillations of the ballistic graphene cavity. We compare our experiments with tight-binding calculations that include realistic graphene-superconductor interfaces and find a good qualitative agreement.}, author = {Nanda, Gaurav and Aguilera Servin, Juan L and Rakyta, Péter and Kormányos, Andor and Kleiner, Reinhold and Koelle, Dieter and Watanabe, Kazuo and Taniguchi, Takashi and Vandersypen, Lieven and Goswami, Srijit}, issn = {15306984}, journal = {Nano Letters}, number = {6}, pages = {3396 -- 3401}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Current-phase relation of ballistic graphene Josephson junctions}}, doi = {10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00097}, volume = {17}, year = {2017}, }