Superconducting State in a Gallium-Doped Germanium Layer at Low Temperatures

We demonstrate that the third elemental group-IV semiconductor, germanium, exhibits superconductivity at ambient pressure. Using advanced doping and annealing techniques of state-of-the-art semiconductor processing, we have fabricated a highly Ga-doped Ge (Ge:Ga) layer in near-intrinsic Ge. Depending on the detailed annealing conditions, we demonstrate that superconductivity can be generated and tailored in the doped semiconducting Ge host at temperatures as high as 0.5 K. Critical-field measurements reveal the quasi-two-dimensional character of superconductivity in the ~60 nm thick Ge:Ga layer. The Cooper-pair density in Ge:Ga appears to be exceptionally low.