Publication: Preserving the Josephson Coupling of Twisted Cuprate Junctions via Tailored Silicon Nitride Circuits Boards
Abstract: Controlled fabrication of twisted van der Waals heterostructures is essential to unlock the full potential of moiré materials. However, achieving reproducibility remains a major challenge, particularly for air-sensitive materials such as Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + δ (BSCCO), where it is crucial to preserve the intrinsic and delicate superconducting properties of the interface throughout the entire fabrication process. Here, a dry, inert and cryogenic assembly method is presented that combines silicon nitride nanomembranes (NMBs) with pre-patterned electrodes and the cryogenic stacking technique (CST) to fabricate high-quality twisted BSCCO Josephson junctions (JJs). This protocol prevents thermal and chemical degradation during both interface formation and electrical contact integration. It is also found that asymmetric membrane designs, such as a double cantilever, effectively suppress vibration-induced disorder due to wire bonding, resulting in sharp and hysteretic current–voltage characteristics. The junctions exhibit a twist-angle-dependent Josephson coupling with magnitudes comparable to the highest-performing devices reported to date, but achieved through a straightforward and versatile contact method, offering a scalable and adaptable platform for future applications. These findings highlight the importance of both interface and contact engineering in addressing reproducibility in superconducting van der Waals heterostructures.
Confalone, Tommaso, et al. “Preserving the Josephson Coupling of Twisted Cuprate Junctions via Tailored Silicon Nitride Circuits Boards.” Small 21.50 (2025): e06520.
