Fabrication of Al/AlO_x/Al Josephson junctions and superconducting quantum circuits by shadow evaporation and a dynamic oxidation process

Besides serving as promising candidates for realizing quantum computing, superconducting quantum circuits are one of a few macroscopic physical systems in which fundamental quantum phenomena can be directly demonstrated and tested, giving rise to a vast field of intensive research work both theoretically and experimentally. In this paper we report our work on the fabrication of superconducting quantum circuits, starting from its building blocks: Al/AlO_x/Al Josephson junctions. By using electron beam lithography patterning and shadow evaporation, we have fabricated aluminum Josephson junctions with a controllable critical current density (j_c) and wide range of junction sizes from 0.01 μm² up to 1 μm². We have carried out systematical studies on the oxidation process in fabricating Al/AlO_x/Al Josephson junctions suitable for superconducting flux qubits. Furthermore, we have also fabricated superconducting quantum circuits such as superconducting flux qubits and charge-flux qubits.