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Understanding the ground state (GS) phase transitions in the quantum tunneling regime of a superconducting system is important for future qubit devices. Here, Shen, Heedt and Borsoi et al. report distinct types of fermion parity GS transitions as a function of magnetic field and gate voltages in a Coulomb-blockaded InSb–Al island.

Measuring the transmission phase of a quantum dot is crucial for the read-out of future topological qubits based on nanowire networks but has not been established yet. Here, the authors demonstrate interferometric read-out of the transmission phase in a nanowire-based architecture.

A three-site Kitaev chain, constructed from three semiconducting quantum dots coupled by superconducting segments in a hybrid InSb/Al nanowire, shows enhanced robustness of edge zero-energy modes against variations in the coupling strengths or electrochemical potentials compared with a chain containing only two quantum dots.

A Kitaev chain formed by two quantum dots coupled via a superconductor support the so-called poor man’s Majorana bound states. Here, the authors form a minimal Kitaev chain using Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states and show that the resulting bound states are more robust than in the case of unproximitized quantum dots.

Andreev bound states can form in hybrid semiconducting-superconducting devices and can mirror the experimental signatures of the much sought topologically non-trivial Majorana bound states. Here, van Driel, Wang and coauthors present a method of directly measuring the spin-polarized excitation spectrum of Andreev bound states.

Tunneling spectroscopy is widely used to examine the subgap spectra in semiconductor/superconductor nanostructures. Here, the authors develop an alternative type of tunnel probe for InSb-Al hybrid nanowires, enabling study of the spatial extension of Andreev bound states.

In a step towards topological quantum computation, a quantized Majorana conductance has been demonstrated for a semiconducting nanowire coupled to a superconductor.

The proximity effect in semiconductor-superconductor nanowires is expected to generate an induced gap in the semiconductor. Here, the authors study the superconducting proximity effect in InSb nanowires with an Al/Pt shell, demonstrating control of the induced gap using electric and magnetic fields.

A finely tuned growth strategy to generate nanowire networks that fulfil all the prerequisites for braiding may lead to a demonstration of Majorana braiding.

Controllable detection of singlet and triplet Cooper pair splitting via crossed Andreev reflection is demonstrated in spin-polarized quantum dots on a superconducting nanowire platform with strong spin–orbit coupling.

A minimal artificial Kitaev chain can be realized by using two spin-polarized quantum dots in an InSb nanowire strongly coupled by both elastic co-tunnelling and crossed Andreev reflection.

Advanced fabrication techniques enable a wide range of quantum devices, such as the realization of a topological qubit. Here, the authors introduce an on-chip fabrication technique based on shadow walls to implement topological qubits in an InSb nanowire without fabrication steps such as lithography and etching.