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arxiv: 2606.06951 · v1 · pith:NOOJIPUUnew · submitted 2026-06-05 · 🪐 quant-ph

Contacting Josephson Junctions via Airbridges in Superconducting Circuits

Pith reviewed 2026-06-27 22:01 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification 🪐 quant-ph
keywords superconducting circuitsairbridgesJosephson junctionstransmon qubitsdevice fabricationquantum coherencecoplanar waveguides
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The pith

Airbridges fabricated in a single step can replace bandages for all interconnects to Josephson junction electrodes in superconducting circuits.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The paper shows that a single fabrication step can produce airbridges of many sizes to handle every electrical connection on the chip, including direct contact to Josephson junction electrodes. This removes the need for bandages, which add unwanted material interfaces and extra processing steps. The resulting airbridges remain mechanically stable from 0.5 to 4 micrometers wide and 5 to 40 micrometers long, integrate with low loss into resonators and transmons, and support qubit relaxation times above 250 microseconds. The method therefore cuts manufacturing complexity while preserving the coherence required for quantum circuits.

Core claim

All electrical interconnects, including those to Josephson junction electrodes, can be formed by airbridges of varying sizes made in one step; these bridges exhibit high yield and stability across the stated size range, produce low loss in coplanar waveguide resonators and transmon qubits, and enable measured relaxation times exceeding 250 microseconds in standard transmon geometries.

What carries the argument

Single-step airbridge process that supplies every interconnect, including to Josephson junction electrodes, without bandages.

If this is right

  • Device fabrication complexity drops because bandages and their associated steps are eliminated.
  • Parasitic material interfaces introduced by bandages are removed from the circuit.
  • Airbridges of many sizes remain mechanically stable and electrically low-loss when integrated into resonators and qubits.
  • Standard transmon geometries reach relaxation times above 250 microseconds.
  • The single-step process shortens overall manufacturing time for superconducting circuits.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

  • Larger or more densely connected circuits could become feasible once every connection uses the same airbridge step.
  • Reproducibility across fabrication runs may improve because the number of distinct process steps is reduced.
  • The size range demonstrated (0.5–4 μm width, 5–40 μm length) suggests the method can adapt to varied circuit layouts without new process development.

Load-bearing premise

Airbridges made in one step can form reliable, low-loss electrical contacts to Josephson junction electrodes without creating new lossy interfaces or mechanical problems that shorten coherence times.

What would settle it

Fabricating otherwise identical transmon devices with the new airbridges and with conventional bandages, then finding that the airbridge devices show markedly shorter relaxation times, would falsify the claim that high coherence is preserved.

Figures

Figures reproduced from arXiv: 2606.06951 by Christopher Eichler, Harshanth Ram Murugesan, Markus Sondermann, Mojahed Jaber, Mom\v{c}ilo Milosavljevi\'c, Murali Krishna Kurmapu, Prakiran Baidya, Thomas F\"osel, Victor Kemme.

Figure 1
Figure 1. Figure 1: FIG. 1. (a) Schematic of a conventional two-element contacting scheme. Bandages (red) connect Josephson junctions (gray) to [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p002_1.png] view at source ↗
Figure 2
Figure 2. Figure 2: FIG. 2. Gallery of scanning electron micrograph (SEM) images of (a) separate parts of the ground plane contacted via airbridges [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p003_2.png] view at source ↗
Figure 3
Figure 3. Figure 3: FIG. 3. (a) Optical image of one of the three resonator devices each of which contains [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p004_3.png] view at source ↗
Figure 4
Figure 4. Figure 4: FIG. 4. (a) Optical image of a two-pad transmon device with [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p005_4.png] view at source ↗
Figure 5
Figure 5. Figure 5: FIG. 5. GDS layout of a typical airbridge design used for [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p006_5.png] view at source ↗
Figure 6
Figure 6. Figure 6: FIG. 6. Schematics of the fabrication process flow for the airbridge structures (not to scale). [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p007_6.png] view at source ↗
Figure 7
Figure 7. Figure 7: FIG. 7. SEM image of – (a) arrays of airbridges with varying [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p008_7.png] view at source ↗
Figure 9
Figure 9. Figure 9: FIG. 9. SEM image of – (a) a stable airbridge having a length [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p009_9.png] view at source ↗
Figure 11
Figure 11. Figure 11: FIG. 11. Wiring diagram of - (a) [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p010_11.png] view at source ↗
Figure 12
Figure 12. Figure 12: FIG. 12. Normalized [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p010_12.png] view at source ↗
Figure 14
Figure 14. Figure 14: FIG. 14. (a) Measured frequency shift (green circle) of res [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p011_14.png] view at source ↗
Figure 15
Figure 15. Figure 15: FIG. 15. (a) Measured transmission spectra of the readout [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p012_15.png] view at source ↗
read the original abstract

Superconducting circuit devices require electrical interconnects between different circuit elements on the chip, for which conventional device architectures use a combination of two structural elements: \textit{airbridges} to connect non-adjacent elements in the base layer, and \textit{bandages} to connect the electrodes forming the Josephson junctions to the base layer. Bandages introduce unwanted parasitic material interfaces and increase the manufacturing complexity. Here, we overcome the limitations imposed by \emph{bandages} by establishing \textit{all} electrical interconnects with airbridges of varying size fabricated in a single step. The airbridges show a high yield and mechanical stability over a wide range of sizes from $0.5\,\mu\mathrm{m}$ to $4\,\mu\mathrm{m}$ in width and from $5\,\mu\mathrm{m}$ to $40\,\mu\mathrm{m}$ in length, and show low loss when integrated in coplanar waveguide resonators and transmon qubits. Measured relaxation times up to more than $250\,\mu\mathrm{s}$ in standard transmon geometries show that the process achieves high coherence while substantially easing and accelerating device fabrication.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Referee Report

0 major / 2 minor

Summary. The manuscript claims that all electrical interconnects in superconducting circuits—including contacts to Josephson junction electrodes—can be realized using airbridges of varying dimensions fabricated in a single lithographic step, thereby eliminating the need for separate bandage structures. It reports high fabrication yield and mechanical stability across airbridge widths of 0.5–4 μm and lengths of 5–40 μm, low microwave loss when integrated into coplanar-waveguide resonators and transmon qubits, and qubit relaxation times exceeding 250 μs in standard geometries.

Significance. If the reported yield, stability, loss, and coherence results hold under the fabrication and measurement protocols detailed in the full manuscript, the work removes a source of parasitic interfaces and fabrication complexity that has limited device yield and performance in superconducting quantum circuits. The approach is directly relevant to scaling efforts that require dense, low-loss interconnects without additional process steps.

minor comments (2)
  1. [Results section (device characterization)] The abstract states that airbridges show 'low loss' in resonators and qubits and 'relaxation times up to more than 250 μs,' but the main text should explicitly report the number of devices measured, the distribution of T1 values, and any exclusion criteria or control samples used to establish these figures (e.g., comparison to bandage-based devices on the same wafer).
  2. [Methods and Figure 2] Figure captions and the methods section should clarify the exact definition of 'yield' (e.g., fraction of bridges surviving release etch without collapse or electrical discontinuity) and how mechanical stability was quantified across the stated size range.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

0 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for their positive assessment of the work and the recommendation to accept the manuscript.

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No significant circularity

full rationale

This is an experimental fabrication and characterization paper. The central claims rest on direct measurements of airbridge yield, mechanical stability, resonator loss, and transmon T1 times (>250 μs). No mathematical derivations, fitted parameters renamed as predictions, or load-bearing self-citations appear in the argument structure. All reported results are independently testable via the described fabrication process and device measurements.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 1 axioms · 0 invented entities

The central claim rests on standard domain assumptions in superconducting device fabrication rather than new free parameters or invented entities. No numbers are fitted to data in the abstract, and no new particles or forces are postulated.

axioms (1)
  • domain assumption Airbridges can be fabricated with high yield and mechanical stability across the stated size range while maintaining low microwave loss when contacting Josephson junctions.
    This premise is the load-bearing assumption tested by the reported measurements.

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