Superconducting flip-chip devices using indium microspheres on Au-passivated Nb or NbN as under-bump metallization layer

TL;DR

This paper presents a simplified superconducting flip-chip assembly method using indium microspheres and gold-passivated Nb/NbN layers, enabling high supercurrents without complex fabrication.

Contribution

The authors introduce a novel, straightforward flip-chip bonding technique with indium microspheres on passivated Nb/NbN, avoiding electroplating and specialized equipment.

Findings

Transported supercurrent exceeds 1A in the assembly.

Flip-chip process does not require electroplating or patterning of indium.

Assembly can carry large currents at millikelvin temperatures.

Abstract

Superconducting flip-chip interconnects are crucial for the three-dimensional integration of superconducting circuits in sensing and quantum technology applications. We demonstrate a simplified approach for a superconducting flip-chip device using commercially available indium microspheres and an in-house-built transfer stage for bonding two chips patterned with superconducting thin films. We use a gold-passivated niobium or niobium nitride layer as an under-bump metallization (UBM) layer between an aluminum-based superconducting wiring layer and the indium interconnect. At millikelvin temperatures, our flip-chip assembly can transport a supercurrent with tens of milliamperes, limited by the smallest geometric feature size and critical current density of the UBM layer and not by the indium interconnect. We show that the pressed indium interconnect itself can carry a supercurrent exceeding 1A due to its large size of about 500 micrometer diameter. Our flip-chip assembly does not require electroplating nor patterning of indium. The assembly process does not need a flip-chip bonder and can be realized with a transfer stage using a top chip with transparency or through-vias for alignment. These flip-chip devices can be utilized in applications that require few superconducting interconnects carrying large currents at millikelvin temperatures.