Published February 19, 2026 | Version Published
Journal Article Open

Thermally activated epitaxy of NbO

  • 1. ROR icon California Institute of Technology

Abstract

We demonstrate a thermally activated epitaxy window for the growth of NbO at temperatures exceeding 1000 ∘⁢C. NbO films grown in this mode display superior structural and transport properties, which are reproducible across a window of oxygen partial pressure. Through comprehensive analysis, we propose the prototypical electrical properties of NbO. This study unequivocally demonstrates the utility of high temperatures in the thin film synthesis of refractory metal compounds.

Copyright and License

©2026 American Physical Society.

Acknowledgement

We thank Bharat Jalan for his valuable comments. We acknowledge funding provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's EPiQS Initiative (Grant No. GBMF10638), the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, a NSF Physics Frontiers Center (NSF Grant No. PHY-2317110), and the AWS Center for Quantum Computing through a sponsored research initiative. This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and funded through the President's and Director's Research & Development Fund Program.

Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this article are openly available [47].

Supplemental Material

Supplementary information containing additional text and figures.

Transport_in_NbO.pdf

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Additional details

Related works

Is new version of
Discussion Paper: arXiv:2601.16313 (arXiv)
Is supplemented by
Dataset: https://data.caltech.edu/records/dge85-pt174 (URL)

Funding

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
GBMF10638
National Science Foundation
PHY-2317110
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Dates

Accepted
2026-01-21