Watching Majorana bound states form: Majorana bound states (MBSs) are peculiar quasiparticles that may one day become the cornerstone of topological quantum computing. To engineer these states, physicists have used semiconductor nanowires in contact with a superconductor. Although many of the observed properties align with theoretical predictions, a closer look into the creation of MBSs is desirable. Deng et al. fabricated nanowires with a quantum dot at one end that served as a spectrometer for the states that formed inside the superconducting gap of the nanowire. Using this setup, topologically trivial bound states were seen to coalesce into MBSs as the magnetic field was varied. Science , this issue p. 1557

Junctions consisting of two crossed single-walled carbon nanotubes were fabricated with electrical contacts at each end of each nanotube. The individual nanotubes were identified as metallic (M) or semiconducting (S), based on their two-terminal conductances; MM, MS, and SS four-terminal devices were studied. The MM and SS junctions had high conductances, on the order of 0.1 e ² / h (where e is the electron charge and h is Planck's constant). For an MS junction, the semiconducting nanotube was depleted at the junction by the metallic nanotube, forming a rectifying Schottky barrier. We used two- and three-terminal experiments to fully characterize this junction.