Encapsulation epitaxy of air-stable monolayer superconducting films for quantum circuits and qubits

@misc{zheng2026encapsulation,
  title = {{Encapsulation epitaxy of air-stable monolayer superconducting films for quantum circuits and qubits}},
  author = {Xudong Zheng and Sameia Zaman and Kenan Zhang and Connor A Occhialini and Haowei Xu and Zhien Wang and Fangyuan Liu and Luiz Gustavo Pimenta Martins and Sejoon Lim and Tianyi Zhang and Tilo H. Yang and Jiangtao Wang and Yunyue Zhu and Zachariah Hennighausen and Sein Park and Steven Vitale and Kevin Tibbetts and Stephen Margiotta and Phillip Kim and Cong Su and Ju Li and Riccardo Comin and William D. Oliver and Joel Î-j. Wang and Jing Kong},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.19321},
  eprint = {2609.19321},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.19321},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Encapsulation epitaxy of air-stable monolayer superconducting films for quantum circuits and qubits
AU  - Xudong Zheng
AU  - Sameia Zaman
AU  - Kenan Zhang
AU  - Connor A Occhialini
AU  - Haowei Xu
AU  - Zhien Wang
AU  - Fangyuan Liu
AU  - Luiz Gustavo Pimenta Martins
AU  - Sejoon Lim
AU  - Tianyi Zhang
AU  - Tilo H. Yang
AU  - Jiangtao Wang
AU  - Yunyue Zhu
AU  - Zachariah Hennighausen
AU  - Sein Park
AU  - Steven Vitale
AU  - Kevin Tibbetts
AU  - Stephen Margiotta
AU  - Phillip Kim
AU  - Cong Su
AU  - Ju Li
AU  - Riccardo Comin
AU  - William D. Oliver
AU  - Joel Î-j. Wang
AU  - Jing Kong
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/16
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.19321
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.19321
AB  - Two-dimensional (2D) superconductors are an emerging platform for strongly correlated physics and quantum information science. Their reduced dimensionality, atomically flat interfaces, and high crystallinity are attractive for realizing compact lumped-element devices in superconducting circuits. However, synthesizing large-area, monolayer 2D superconductors remains challenging because of their susceptibility to oxidation. Here, we report an "encapsulation epitaxy" mechanism that enables the growth of large-area, air-stable, monolayer superconducting NbSe2 films and explore their use in superconducting quantum circuits. A 2D encapsulation layer, such as graphene or hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), pre-deposited on a 3D substrate (e.g., SiO2 or Si3N4), serves both as a template for epitaxial growth of monolayer NbSe2 (1L-NbSe2) underneath it and as a protective cover. This approach produces uniform, large-area (>1-inch) 1L-NbSe2 with greatly enhanced ambient stability, enabling device fabrication in air. The resulting 1L-graphene/NbSe2 heterostructures exhibit robust superconductivity (Tc ~ 1 K) and enhanced charge density wave order (TCDW ~ 177 K), indicative of high material quality. We further integrate 1L-NbSe2 into superconducting circuits using oxidation-free transfer and superconducting edge-contact techniques. The 1L-NbSe2 exhibits a measured kinetic inductance LK ~ 0.7 nH/square, making it suitable for quantum circuits requiring high-kinetic-inductance elements. Encapsulation epitaxy thus provides a route to air-stable 2D superconductors and van der Waals heterostructures, with potential for wafer-scale, monolithic fabrication of superconducting quantum circuitry.
ER  -