![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761661178587.png\" "\\"Germanium")
<\/a>Wafer-scale superconducting germanium enables millions of Josephson junctions. Credit \u2013 NYU<\/p>\nThis approach allowed gallium atoms to replace germanium atoms at unusually high concentrations while maintaining a stable structure.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than ion implantation, molecular beam epitaxy was used to precisely incorporate gallium atoms into the germanium\u2019s crystal lattice,\u201d explained Julian Steele, a physicist at the University of Queensland.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsing epitaxy, growing thin crystal layers, means we can finally achieve the structural precision needed to understand and control how superconductivity emerges in these materials.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advanced X-ray analysis confirmed that while the crystal\u2019s shape changed slightly, it remained stable and was able to conduct electricity without resistance.<\/p>\n
Path to quantum technologies<\/p>\n
Superconducting germanium could transform technologies that rely on smooth connections between semiconducting and superconducting regions, such as quantum circuits, sensors, and cryogenic<\/a> electronics.<\/p>\n \u201cThese materials could underpin future quantum circuits, sensors, and low-power cryogenic electronics, all of which need clean interfaces between superconducting and semiconducting<\/a> regions,\u201d Jacobson said.<\/p>\n Shabani added that the work shows how modifying crystal structures can unlock new electronic properties.<\/p>\n \u201cThis works because group IV elements don\u2019t naturally superconduct under normal conditions, but modifying their crystal structure enables the formation of electron pairings that allow superconductivity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n