Growth of PtSe2 few-layer films on NbN superconducting substrate

Abstract

Few-layer films of transition metal dichalcogenides have emerged as promising candidates for applications in electronics. Within this group of 2D materials, platinum diselenide (PtSe2) was predicted to be a compound with one of the highest charge carrier mobility. Recently, the successful integration of group III-V nitride semiconductors with NbNx-based superconductors was reported with a semiconductor transistor grown directly on a crystalline superconductor. This opens up the possibility of combining the macroscopic quantum effects of superconductors with the electronic, photonic, and piezoelectric properties of the semiconducting material. Here, we report on the fabrication of a few-layer PtSe2 film on top of an NbN substrate layer by selenization of pre-deposited 3 nm thick Pt layers. We found the selenization parameters preserving the chemical and structural integrity of both the PtSe2 and NbN films. The PtSe2 film alignment can be tuned by varying the nitrogen flow rate through the reaction chamber. The superconducting critical temperature of NbN is only slightly reduced in the optimized samples compared to pristine NbN. The carrier mobility in PtSe2 layers determined from Hall measurements is below 1 cm2/V s.