Direct‐Write Editing Niobium Superconducting Josephson Junctions and Devices via XeF ₂ Gas Assisted Focused Electron Beam Induced Etching

In this work, we demonstrated direct-write editing of niobium superconducting thin film devices by focused electron beam induced etching (FEBIE) with the XeF2 precursor. Niobium films of 200 and 50 nm thickness were deposited onto SiO2 coated silicon wafers by magnetron sputtering and fabricated into four-point probe patterns. Directly written FEBIE current crowding Dayem bridge devices were synthesized and characterized. Furthermore, Josephson junctions were fabricated via FEBIE line etches to form a trench across the ≈3.8 µm superconducting channel width. Detailed superconducting transport properties of the devices were characterized.