@article{8909,
  abstract     = {Spin qubits are considered to be among the most promising candidates for building a quantum processor. Group IV hole spin qubits have moved into the focus of interest due to the ease of operation and compatibility with Si technology. In addition, Ge offers the option for monolithic superconductor-semiconductor integration. Here we demonstrate a hole spin qubit operating at fields below 10 mT, the critical field of Al, by exploiting the large out-of-plane hole g-factors in planar Ge and by encoding the qubit into the singlet-triplet states of a double quantum dot. We observe electrically controlled X and Z-rotations with tunable frequencies exceeding 100 MHz and dephasing times of 1μs which we extend beyond 15μs with echo techniques. These results show that Ge hole singlet triplet qubits outperform their electronic Si and GaAs based counterparts in speed and coherence, respectively. In addition, they are on par with Ge single spin qubits, but can be operated at much lower fields underlining their potential for on chip integration with superconducting technologies.},
  author       = {Jirovec, Daniel and Hofmann, Andrea C and Ballabio, Andrea and Mutter, Philipp M. and Tavani, Giulio and Botifoll, Marc and Crippa, Alessandro and Kukucka, Josip and Sagi, Oliver and Martins, Frederico and Saez Mollejo, Jaime and Prieto Gonzalez, Ivan and Borovkov, Maksim and Arbiol, Jordi and Chrastina, Daniel and Isella, Giovanni and Katsaros, Georgios},
  issn         = {1476-4660},
  journal      = {Nature Materials},
  number       = {8},
  pages        = {1106–1112},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{A singlet triplet hole spin qubit in planar Ge}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s41563-021-01022-2},
  volume       = {20},
  year         = {2021},
}

@article{9038,
  abstract     = {Layered materials in which individual atomic layers are bonded by weak van der Waals forces (vdW materials) constitute one of the most prominent platforms for materials research. Particularly, polar vdW crystals, such as hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), alpha-molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO3) or alpha-vanadium pentoxide (α-V2O5), have received significant attention in nano-optics, since they support phonon polaritons (PhPs)―light coupled to lattice vibrations― with strong electromagnetic confinement and low optical losses. Recently, correlative far- and near-field studies of α-MoO3 have been demonstrated as an effective strategy to accurately extract the permittivity of this material. Here, we use this accurately characterized and low-loss polaritonic material to sense its local dielectric environment, namely silica (SiO2), one of the most widespread substrates in nanotechnology. By studying the propagation of PhPs on α-MoO3 flakes with different thicknesses laying on SiO2 substrates via near-field microscopy (s-SNOM), we extract locally the infrared permittivity of SiO2. Our work reveals PhPs nanoimaging as a versatile method for the quantitative characterization of the local optical properties of dielectric substrates, crucial for understanding and predicting the response of nanomaterials and for the future scalability of integrated nanophotonic devices. },
  author       = {Aguilar-Merino, Patricia and Álvarez-Pérez, Gonzalo and Taboada-Gutiérrez, Javier and Duan, Jiahua and Prieto Gonzalez, Ivan and Álvarez-Prado, Luis Manuel and Nikitin, Alexey Y. and Martín-Sánchez, Javier and Alonso-González, Pablo},
  issn         = {20794991},
  journal      = {Nanomaterials},
  number       = {1},
  publisher    = {MDPI},
  title        = {{Extracting the infrared permittivity of SiO2 substrates locally by near-field imaging of phonon polaritons in a van der Waals crystal}},
  doi          = {10.3390/nano11010120},
  volume       = {11},
  year         = {2021},
}

@article{9334,
  abstract     = {Polaritons with directional in-plane propagation and ultralow losses in van der Waals (vdW) crystals promise unprecedented manipulation of light at the nanoscale. However, these polaritons present a crucial limitation: their directional propagation is intrinsically determined by the crystal structure of the host material, imposing forbidden directions of propagation. Here, we demonstrate that directional polaritons (in-plane hyperbolic phonon polaritons) in a vdW crystal (α-phase molybdenum trioxide) can be directed along forbidden directions by inducing an optical topological transition, which emerges when the slab is placed on a substrate with a given negative permittivity (4H–silicon carbide). By visualizing the transition in real space, we observe exotic polaritonic states between mutually orthogonal hyperbolic regimes, which unveil the topological origin of the transition: a gap opening in the dispersion. This work provides insights into optical topological transitions in vdW crystals, which introduce a route to direct light at the nanoscale.},
  author       = {Duan, J. and Álvarez-Pérez, G. and Voronin, K. V. and Prieto Gonzalez, Ivan and Taboada-Gutiérrez, J. and Volkov, V. S. and Martín-Sánchez, J. and Nikitin, A. Y. and Alonso-González, P.},
  issn         = {23752548},
  journal      = {Science Advances},
  number       = {14},
  publisher    = {AAAS},
  title        = {{Enabling propagation of anisotropic polaritons along forbidden directions via a topological transition}},
  doi          = {10.1126/sciadv.abf2690},
  volume       = {7},
  year         = {2021},
}

@article{10177,
  abstract     = {Phonon polaritons (PhPs)—light coupled to lattice vibrations—with in-plane hyperbolic dispersion exhibit ray-like propagation with large wave vectors and enhanced density of optical states along certain directions on a surface. As such, they have raised a surge of interest, promising unprecedented manipulation of infrared light at the nanoscale in a planar circuitry. Here, we demonstrate focusing of in-plane hyperbolic PhPs propagating along thin slabs of α-MoO3. To that end, we developed metallic nanoantennas of convex geometries for both efficient launching and focusing of the polaritons. The foci obtained exhibit enhanced near-field confinement and absorption compared to foci produced by in-plane isotropic PhPs. Foci sizes as small as λp/4.5 = λ0/50 were achieved (λp is the polariton wavelength and λ0 is the photon wavelength). Focusing of in-plane hyperbolic polaritons introduces a first and most basic building block developing planar polariton optics using in-plane anisotropic van der Waals materials.},
  author       = {Martín-Sánchez, Javier and Duan, Jiahua and Taboada-Gutiérrez, Javier and Álvarez-Pérez, Gonzalo and Voronin, Kirill V. and Prieto Gonzalez, Ivan and Ma, Weiliang and Bao, Qiaoliang and Volkov, Valentyn S. and Hillenbrand, Rainer and Nikitin, Alexey Y. and Alonso-González, Pablo},
  issn         = {23752548},
  journal      = {Science Advances},
  number       = {41},
  publisher    = {American Association for the Advancement of Science},
  title        = {{Focusing of in-plane hyperbolic polaritons in van der Waals crystals with tailored infrared nanoantennas}},
  doi          = {10.1126/sciadv.abj0127},
  volume       = {7},
  year         = {2021},
}

@article{10559,
  abstract     = {Hole gases in planar germanium can have high mobilities in combination with strong spin-orbit interaction and electrically tunable g factors, and are therefore emerging as a promising platform for creating hybrid superconductor-semiconductor devices. A key challenge towards hybrid Ge-based quantum technologies is the design of high-quality interfaces and superconducting contacts that are robust against magnetic fields. In this work, by combining the assets of aluminum, which provides good contact to the Ge, and niobium, which has a significant superconducting gap, we demonstrate highly transparent low-disordered JoFETs with relatively large ICRN products that are capable of withstanding high magnetic fields. We furthermore demonstrate the ability of phase-biasing individual JoFETs, opening up an avenue to explore topological superconductivity in planar Ge. The persistence of superconductivity in the reported hybrid devices beyond 1.8 T paves the way towards integrating spin qubits and proximity-induced superconductivity on the same chip.},
  author       = {Aggarwal, Kushagra and Hofmann, Andrea C and Jirovec, Daniel and Prieto Gonzalez, Ivan and Sammak, Amir and Botifoll, Marc and Martí-Sánchez, Sara and Veldhorst, Menno and Arbiol, Jordi and Scappucci, Giordano and Danon, Jeroen and Katsaros, Georgios},
  issn         = {2643-1564},
  journal      = {Physical Review Research},
  keywords     = {general engineering},
  number       = {2},
  publisher    = {American Physical Society},
  title        = {{Enhancement of proximity-induced superconductivity in a planar Ge hole gas}},
  doi          = {10.1103/physrevresearch.3.l022005},
  volume       = {3},
  year         = {2021},
}

@article{10866,
  abstract     = {Recent discoveries have shown that, when two layers of van der Waals (vdW) materials are superimposed with a relative twist angle between them, the electronic properties of the coupled system can be dramatically altered. Here, we demonstrate that a similar concept can be extended to the optics realm, particularly to propagating phonon polaritons–hybrid light-matter interactions. To do this, we fabricate stacks composed of two twisted slabs of a vdW crystal (α-MoO3) supporting anisotropic phonon polaritons (PhPs), and image the propagation of the latter when launched by localized sources. Our images reveal that, under a critical angle, the PhPs isofrequency curve undergoes a topological transition, in which the propagation of PhPs is strongly guided (canalization regime) along predetermined directions without geometric spreading. These results demonstrate a new degree of freedom (twist angle) for controlling the propagation of polaritons at the nanoscale with potential for nanoimaging, (bio)-sensing, or heat management.},
  author       = {Duan, Jiahua and Capote-Robayna, Nathaniel and Taboada-Gutiérrez, Javier and Álvarez-Pérez, Gonzalo and Prieto Gonzalez, Ivan and Martín-Sánchez, Javier and Nikitin, Alexey Y. and Alonso-González, Pablo},
  issn         = {1530-6992},
  journal      = {Nano Letters},
  keywords     = {Mechanical Engineering, Condensed Matter Physics, General Materials Science, General Chemistry, Bioengineering},
  number       = {7},
  pages        = {5323--5329},
  publisher    = {American Chemical Society},
  title        = {{Twisted nano-optics: Manipulating light at the nanoscale with twisted phonon polaritonic slabs}},
  doi          = {10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c01673},
  volume       = {20},
  year         = {2020},
}

@article{7792,
  abstract     = {Phonon polaritons—light coupled to lattice vibrations—in polar van der Waals crystals are promising candidates for controlling the flow of energy on the nanoscale due to their strong field confinement, anisotropic propagation and ultra-long lifetime in the picosecond range1,2,3,4,5. However, the lack of tunability of their narrow and material-specific spectral range—the Reststrahlen band—severely limits their technological implementation. Here, we demonstrate that intercalation of Na atoms in the van der Waals semiconductor α-V2O5 enables a broad spectral shift of Reststrahlen bands, and that the phonon polaritons excited show ultra-low losses (lifetime of 4 ± 1 ps), similar to phonon polaritons in a non-intercalated crystal (lifetime of 6 ± 1 ps). We expect our intercalation method to be applicable to other van der Waals crystals, opening the door for the use of phonon polaritons in broad spectral bands in the mid-infrared domain.},
  author       = {Taboada-Gutiérrez, Javier and Álvarez-Pérez, Gonzalo and Duan, Jiahua and Ma, Weiliang and Crowley, Kyle and Prieto Gonzalez, Ivan and Bylinkin, Andrei and Autore, Marta and Volkova, Halyna and Kimura, Kenta and Kimura, Tsuyoshi and Berger, M. H. and Li, Shaojuan and Bao, Qiaoliang and Gao, Xuan P.A. and Errea, Ion and Nikitin, Alexey Y. and Hillenbrand, Rainer and Martín-Sánchez, Javier and Alonso-González, Pablo},
  issn         = {14764660},
  journal      = {Nature Materials},
  pages        = {964–968},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{Broad spectral tuning of ultra-low-loss polaritons in a van der Waals crystal by intercalation}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s41563-020-0665-0},
  volume       = {19},
  year         = {2020},
}

@unpublished{8831,
  abstract     = {Holes in planar Ge have high mobilities, strong spin-orbit interaction and electrically tunable g-factors, and are therefore emerging as a promising candidate for hybrid superconductorsemiconductor devices. This is further motivated by the observation of supercurrent transport in planar Ge Josephson Field effect transistors (JoFETs). A key challenge towards hybrid germanium quantum technology is the design of high quality interfaces and superconducting contacts that are robust against magnetic fields. By combining the assets of Al, which has a long superconducting coherence, and Nb, which has a significant superconducting gap, we form low-disordered JoFETs with large ICRN products that are capable of withstanding high magnetic fields. We furthermore demonstrate the ability of phase-biasing individual JoFETs opening up an avenue to explore topological superconductivity in planar Ge. The persistence of superconductivity in the reported hybrid devices beyond 1.8 T paves the way towards integrating spin qubits and proximity-induced superconductivity on the same chip.},
  author       = {Aggarwal, Kushagra and Hofmann, Andrea C and Jirovec, Daniel and Prieto Gonzalez, Ivan and Sammak, Amir and Botifoll, Marc and Marti-Sanchez, Sara and Veldhorst, Menno and Arbiol, Jordi and Scappucci, Giordano and Katsaros, Georgios},
  booktitle    = {arXiv},
  title        = {{Enhancement of proximity induced superconductivity in planar Germanium}},
  year         = {2020},
}

@unpublished{10065,
  abstract     = {We study double quantum dots in a Ge/SiGe heterostructure and test their maturity towards singlet-triplet ($S-T_0$) qubits. We demonstrate a large range of tunability, from two single quantum dots to a double quantum dot. We measure Pauli spin blockade and study the anisotropy of the $g$-factor. We use an adjacent quantum dot for sensing charge transitions in the double quantum dot at interest. In conclusion, Ge/SiGe possesses all ingredients necessary for building a singlet-triplet qubit.},
  author       = {Hofmann, Andrea C and Jirovec, Daniel and Borovkov, Maxim and Prieto Gonzalez, Ivan and Ballabio, Andrea and Frigerio, Jacopo and Chrastina, Daniel and Isella, Giovanni and Katsaros, Georgios},
  booktitle    = {arXiv},
  title        = {{Assessing the potential of Ge/SiGe quantum dots as hosts for singlet-triplet qubits}},
  doi          = {10.48550/arXiv.1910.05841},
  year         = {2019},
}