Fabrication Optimization of Suspended Stencil Mask Lithography for Multi-Terminal Josephson Junctions

TL;DR

This paper investigates the optimal design and reliability of stencil mask lithography for fabricating multi-terminal Josephson junctions, demonstrating its reliability and minimal feature size capabilities.

Contribution

It provides systematic analysis of mask design parameters, reliability metrics, and minimal dimensions for stencil mask lithography in Josephson junction fabrication.

Findings

Stencil mask lithography is reliable for multi-terminal Josephson junctions.

Lateral mask dimensions can be reduced to approximately 40 nm.

Systematic dependencies on the number of superconducting terminals are identified.

Abstract

Stencil mask lithography is an advanced technique for fully in-situ fabricating Josephson junctions, which is increasingly being used for multi-terminal Josephson junctions. This study provides information on the optimal mask design and mask reliability. For this, 270 mask designs were systematically fabricated and investigated under scanning electron microscope. Reliable statements are made about mask yield, minimal dimensions, and systematic dependencies on the number of superconducting terminals. We find that stencil mask lithography can be used reliably for fabricating multi-terminal Josephson junctions, enabling lateral mask dimensions down to 40$\,$nm on average.