Pre-Patterned Superconducting Contacts for Clean Superconductor-Topological Material Interfaces Enabling Long-Range Josephson Coupling

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel pre-patterned superconducting contact architecture that enhances interface quality and enables long-range Josephson coupling in topological materials, improving device reproducibility and performance.

Contribution

Introduction of a pre-patterned bottom-contact design for superconductor-topological material interfaces that avoids damage from conventional fabrication methods.

Findings

Larger critical current times normal resistance (I_c R_N) in Josephson junctions.

Longer-ranged Josephson coupling observed.

Atomically abrupt and chemically well-separated interfaces confirmed by STEM/EDS.

Abstract

Phase-coherent superconducting proximity in topological materials requires clean superconductor-topological material (SC-TM) interfaces, yet conventional top-contact fabrication often degrades them through oxidation, polymer residue, and process-induced disorder. Here we introduce a pre-patterned superconducting bottom-contact architecture in which MoRe/Au electrodes are defined before van der Waals crystal transfer, thereby avoiding on-flake lithography after transfer. In WTe2- and Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.7Se1.3-based Josephson junctions, this architecture yields systematically larger I_c R_N and longer-ranged coupling than conventional top contacts. Cross-sectional STEM/EDS reveals atomically abrupt, chemically well-separated interfaces. These results establish pre-patterned SC-TM contacts as a practical route to reproducible, micrometer-scale Josephson platforms in van der Waals topological materials.