- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review Materials

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Interplay between Aharonov-Bohm and Altshuler-Aronov-Spivak oscillations in phase-pure GaAs/InAs core/shell nanowires of different lengths

Farah Basarić1,2,*, Kaiwen Wang1,2,*, Tudor-Gabriel Dumitru3, Andrei Manolescu3, Francisco Alvarado Cesar4,†, Ana M. Sanchez4, Christoph Krause5, Detlev Grützmacher1,2,5, Alexander Pawlis1,2,5 et al.

Thomas Schäpers1,2,6,‡

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Present address: Facility for Electron Microscopy, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom.
  • ‡Contact author: th.schaepers@fz-juelich.de
PDF

Phys. Rev. Materials 10, 106202 – Published 9 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5x9w-pjtq

Abstract

In GaAs/InAs core/shell nanowires, comprising a tubular conducting shell, interference phenomena observed under an axial field and originating from closed-loop states encircling the insulating core provide an ideal platform for superconducting quantum devices that utilize effects such as Aharonov-Bohm–type or Altshuler-Aronov-Spivak–type conductance oscillations. Both effects are different in nature with respect to phase rigidity because of interference of non-time-reversed or time-reversed paths, respectively. Since their occurrence is largely governed by averaging effects, which depend on sample dimensions and the transport regime, we present a systematic study of flux-periodic oscillations of phase-pure zinc-blende GaAs/InAs core/shell nanowires as a function of gate voltage for samples with different contact separation lengths. Our analysis shows that with increasing contact separation length, averaging effects result in gradual reduction of h/e-periodic Aharonov-Bohm–type oscillations, while relative to that the h/2e-periodic Altshuler-Aronov-Spivak oscillations and its h/4e-periodic higher harmonics are enhanced. The additional phase rigidity seen in the h/3e-periodic oscillations is attributed to phase rigidity propagating from the neighboring lower harmonics. Our tight-binding transport simulations on nanowires of different lengths which contain only a few scattering centers confirm the experimental observations regarding the different harmonics and their phase rigidity. Together, our experimental and simulation findings indicate quasiballistic transport with persistent Aharonov-Bohm–type and phase-rigid Altshuler-Aronov-Spivak–type oscillations despite few scattering centers.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

Supplemental Material

References (52)

  1. O. Gül, H. Y. Günel, H. Lüth, T. Rieger, T. Wenz, F. Haas, M. Lepsa, G. Panaitov, D. Grützmacher, and T. Schäpers, Giant magnetoconductance oscillations in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor core/shell nanowire devices, Nano Lett. 14, 6269 (2014).
  2. K. Gharavi and J. Baugh, Orbital Josephson interference in a nanowire proximity-effect junction, Phys. Rev. B 91, 245436 (2015).
  3. F. Haas, S. Dickheuer, P. Zellekens, T. Rieger, M. I. Lepsa, H. Lüth, D. Grützmacher, and T. Schäpers, Quantum interferometer based on GaAs/InAs core/shell nanowires connected to superconducting contacts, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 33, 064001 (2018).
  4. L. Stampfer, D. J. Carrad, D. Olsteins, C. E. N. Petersen, S. A. Khan, P. Krogstrup, and T. S. Jespersen, Andreev interference in the surface accumulation layer of half-shell InAsSb/Al hybrid nanowires, Adv. Mater. 34, 2108878 (2022).
  5. P. Zellekens, R. S. Deacon, F. Basaric, R. Juluri, M. D. Randle, B. Bennemann, C. Krause, E. Zimmermann, A. M. Sanchez, D. Grützmacher, A. Pawlis, K. Ishibashi, and T. Schäpers, Flux-periodic supercurrent oscillations in an Aharonov–Bohm-type nanowire Josephson junction, Commun. Phys. 8, 363 (2025).
  6. C. Blömers, T. Rieger, P. Zellekens, F. Haas, M. I. Lepsa, H. Hardtdegen, Ö Gül, N. Demarina, D. Grützmacher, H. Lüth, and T. Schäpers, Realization of nanoscaled tubular conductors by means of GaAs/InAs core/shell nanowires, Nanotechnology 24, 035203 (2013).
  7. O. Gül, N. Demarina, C. Blömers, T. Rieger, H. Lüth, M. I. Lepsa, D. Grützmacher, and T. Schäpers, Flux periodic magnetoconductance oscillations in GaAs/InAs core/shell nanowires, Phys. Rev. B 89, 045417 (2014).
  8. F. Haas, T. Wenz, P. Zellekens, N. Demarina, T. Rieger, M. Lepsa, D. Grützmacher, H. Lüth, and T. Schäpers, Angle-dependent magnetotransport in GaAs/InAs core/shell nanowires, Sci. Rep. 6, 24573 (2016).
  9. F. Haas, P. Zellekens, T. Wenz, N. Demarina, T. Rieger, M. I. Lepsa, D. Grützmacher, H. Lüth, and T. Schäpers, Anisotropic phase coherence in GaAs/InAs core/shell nanowires, Nanotechnology 28, 445202 (2017).
  10. F. Basarić, V. Brajović, G. Behner, K. Moors, W. Schaarman, A. Manolescu, R. Juluri, A. M. Sanchez, J. H. Bae, H. Lüth, D. Grützmacher, A. Pawlis, and T. Schäpers, Aharonov-Bohm and Altshuler-Aronov-Spivak oscillations in the quasiballistic regime in phase-pure GaAs/InAs core/shell nanowires, Phys. Rev. B 112, 075301 (2025).
  11. G. de Lange, B. van Heck, A. Bruno, D. J. van Woerkom, A. Geresdi, S. R. Plissard, E. P. A. M. Bakkers, A. R. Akhmerov, and L. DiCarlo, Realization of microwave quantum circuits using hybrid superconducting-semiconducting nanowire Josephson elements, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 127002 (2015).
  12. T. W. Larsen, K. D. Petersson, F. Kuemmeth, T. S. Jespersen, P. Krogstrup, J. Nygård, and C. M. Marcus, Semiconductor-nanowire-based superconducting qubit, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 127001 (2015).
  13. L. Tosi, C. Metzger, M. F. Goffman, C. Urbina, H. Pothier, S. Park, A. Levy Yeyati, J. Nygård, and P. Krogstrup, Spin-orbit splitting of Andreev states revealed by microwave spectroscopy, Phys. Rev. X 9, 011010 (2019).
  14. C. Metzger, S. Park, L. Tosi, C. Janvier, A. A. Reynoso, M. F. Goffman, C. Urbina, A. Levy Yeyati, and H. Pothier, Circuit-QED with phase-biased Josephson weak links, Phys. Rev. Res. 3, 013036 (2021).
  15. P. Zellekens, R. Deacon, P. Perla, D. Grützmacher, M. I. Lepsa, T. Schäpers, and K. Ishibashi, Microwave spectroscopy of Andreev states in InAs nanowire-based hybrid junctions using a flip-chip layout, Commun. Phys. 5, 267 (2022).
  16. A. Yazdani, F. von Oppen, B. I. Halperin, and A. Yacoby, Hunting for Majoranas, Science 380, eade0850 (2023).
  17. S. Sarma, M. Freedman, and C. Nayak, Majorana zero modes and topological quantum computation, npj Quantum Inf. 1, 15001 (2015).
  18. Y. Tserkovnyak and B. I. Halperin, Magnetoconductance oscillations in quasiballistic multimode nanowires, Phys. Rev. B 74, 245327 (2006).
  19. T. O. Rosdahl, A. Manolescu, and V. Gudmundsson, Spin and impurity effects on flux-periodic oscillations in core-shell nanowires, Phys. Rev. B 90, 035421 (2014).
  20. G. Ferrari, A. Bertoni, G. Goldoni, and E. Molinari, Cylindrical two-dimensional electron gas in a transverse magnetic field, Phys. Rev. B 78, 115326 (2008).
  21. A. Manolescu, G. A. Nemnes, A. Sitek, T. O. Rosdahl, S. I. Erlingsson, and V. Gudmundsson, Conductance oscillations of core-shell nanowires in transversal magnetic fields, Phys. Rev. B 93, 205445 (2016).
  22. Y. Aharonov and D. Bohm, Significance of electromagnetic potentials in the quantum theory, Phys. Rev. 115, 485 (1959).
  23. B. L. Altshuler, A. G. Aronov, and B. Z. Spivak, The Aaronov-Bohm effect in disordered conductors, Pis'ma Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 33, 101 (1981) [JETP Lett. 33, 94 (1981)].
  24. D. Mailly, C. Chapelier, and A. Benoit, Experimental observation of persistent currents in gaas-algaas single loop, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 2020 (1993).
  25. S. Datta, M. R. Melloch, S. Bandyopadhyay, R. Noren, M. Vaziri, M. Miller, and R. Reifenberger, Novel interference effects between parallel quantum wells, Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 2344 (1985).
  26. D. Yu. Sharvin and Yu. V. Sharvin, Quantisation of the magnetic flow in a normal metal cylindrical film, Pis'ma Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 34, 285 (1981) [JETP Lett. 34, 272 (1981)].
  27. A. G. Aronov and Y. V. Sharvin, Magnetic flux effects in disordered conductors, Rev. Mod. Phys. 59, 755 (1987).
  28. C. P. Umbach, C. Van Haesendonck, R. B. Laibowitz, S. Washburn, and R. A. Webb, Direct observation of ensemble averaging of the Aharonov-Bohm effect in normal-metal loops, Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 386 (1986).
  29. L. P. Lévy, G. Dolan, J. Dunsmuir, and H. Bouchiat, Magnetization of mesoscopic copper rings: Evidence for persistent currents, Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 2074 (1990).
  30. V. Chandrasekhar, R. A. Webb, M. J. Brady, M. B. Ketchen, W. J. Gallagher, and A. Kleinsasser, Magnetic response of a single, isolated gold loop, Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 3578 (1991).
  31. J. Dauber, M. Oellers, F. Venn, A. Epping, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, F. Hassler, and C. Stampfer, Aharonov-Bohm oscillations and magnetic focusing in ballistic graphene rings, Phys. Rev. B 96, 205407 (2017).
  32. A. Bachtold, C. Strunk, J.-P. Salvetat, J.-M. Bonard, L. Forró, T. Nussbaumer, and C. Schönenberger, Aharonov–Bohm oscillations in carbon nanotubes, Nature (London) 397, 673 (1999).
  33. P. Zellekens, N. Demarina, J. Janßen, T. Rieger, M. Ion Lepsa, P. Perla, G. Panaitov, H. Lüth, D. Grützmacher, and T. Schäpers, Phase coherent transport and spin-orbit interaction in GaAs/InSb core/shell nanowires, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 35, 085003 (2020).
  34. M. Jung, J. S. Lee, W. Song, Y. H. Kim, S. D. Lee, N. Kim, J. Park, M.-S. Choi, S. Katsumoto, H. Lee, and J. Kim, Quantum interference in radial heterostructure nanowires, Nano Lett. 8, 3189 (2008).
  35. H. Peng, K. Lai, D. Kong, S. Meister, Y. Chen, X.-L. Qi, S.-C. Zhang, Z.-X. Shen, and Y. Cui, Aharonov-Bohm interference in topological insulator nanoribbons, Nat. Mater. 9, 225 (2010).
  36. S. Cho, B. Dellabetta, R. Zhong, J. Schneeloch, T. Liu, G. Gu, M. J. Gilbert, and N. Mason, Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in a quasi-ballistic three-dimensional topological insulator nanowire, Nat. Commun. 6, 7634 (2015).
  37. Y. C. Arango, L. Huang, C. Chen, J. Avila, M. C. Asensio, D. Grützmacher, H. Lüth, J. G. Lu, and T. Schäpers, Quantum transport and nano angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on the topological surface states of single Sb2Te3 nanowires, Sci. Rep. 6, 29493 (2016).
  38. D. Rosenbach, N. Oellers, A. R. Jalil, M. Mikulics, J. Kölzer, E. Zimmermann, G. Mussler, S. Bunte, D. Grützmacher, H. Lüth, and T. Schäpers, Quantum transport in topological surface states of selectively grown Bi2Te3 nanoribbons, Adv. Electron. Mater. 6, 2000205 (2020).
  39. H.-S. Kim, T.-H. Hwang, N.-H. Kim, Y. Hou, D. Yu, H.-S. Sim, and Y.-J. Doh, Adjustable quantum interference oscillations in Sb-doped Bi2Se3 topological insulator nanoribbons, ACS Nano 14, 14118 (2020).
  40. A. E. Hansen, A. Kristensen, S. Pedersen, C. B. Sørensen, and P. E. Lindelof, Mesoscopic decoherence in Aharonov-Bohm rings, Phys. Rev. B 64, 045327 (2001).
  41. J. Dufouleur, L. Veyrat, A. Teichgräber, S. Neuhaus, C. Nowka, S. Hampel, J. Cayssol, J. Schumann, B. Eichler, O. G. Schmidt, B. Büchner, and R. Giraud, Quasiballistic transport of Dirac fermions in a Bi2Se3 nanowire, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 186806 (2013).
  42. C. W. Groth, M. Wimmer, A. R. Akhmerov, and X. Waintal, Kwant: A software package for quantum transport, New J. Phys. 16, 063065 (2014).
  43. M. M. Jansen, P. Perla, M. Kaladzhian, N. von den Driesch, J. Janßen, M. Luysberg, M. I. Lepsa, D. Grützmacher, and A. Pawlis, Phase-pure wurtzite GaAs nanowires grown by self-catalyzed selective area molecular beam epitaxy for advanced laser devices and quantum disks, ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 3, 11037 (2020).
  44. See Supplemental Material at http://link.aps.org/supplemental/10.1103/5x9w-pjtq for experimental details, transmission electron microscopy studies, h/e and higher harmonics conductance contributions of all samples, extracted oscillation amplitudes, data processing, simulations, and modeling, which include Refs.  [50, 51, 52].
  45. Y. Aharonov and A. Casher, Topological quantum effects for neutral particles, Phys. Rev. Lett. 53, 319 (1984).
  46. T. Bergsten, T. Kobayashi, Y. Sekine, and J. Nitta, Experimental demonstration of the time reversal Aharonov-Casher effect, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 196803 (2006).
  47. L. C. Mur, C. J. P. M. Harmans, and W. G. van der Wiel, Competition between h/e and h/2e oscillations in a semiconductor Aharonov–Bohm interferometer, New J. Phys. 10, 073031 (2008).
  48. W. Albrecht, J. Moers, and B. Hermanns, HNF-Helmholtz nano facility, JLSRF 3, A112 (2017).
  49. F. Basarić, K. Wang, T.-G. Dumitru, A. Manolescu, F. Alvarado-Cesar, A. M. Sanchez, D. Grützmacher, A. Pawlis, and T. Schäpers, Data for: Interplay between Aharonov–Bohm and Altshuler–Aronov–Spivak oscillations in phase-pure GaAs/InAs core/shell nanowires of different lengths, JülichDATA (2026).
  50. G. J. Dolan, J. C. Licini, and D. J. Bishop, Quantum interference effects in lithium ring arrays, Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 1493 (1986).
  51. A. Ballester, C. Segarra, A. Bertoni, and J. Planelles, Suppression of the Aharonov-Bohm effect in hexagonal quantum rings, Europhys. Lett. 104, 67004 (2013).
  52. M. Urbaneja Torres, A. Sitek, S. I. Erlingsson, G. Thorgilsson, V. Gudmundsson, and A. Manolescu, Conductance features of core-shell nanowires determined by their internal geometry, Phys. Rev. B 98, 085419 (2018).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Materials 10, 106202– Published 9 October, 2026
  • Received 9 June 2026
  • Revised 11 August 2026
  • Accepted 22 September 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation