Stencil Lithography-Assisted Fabrication of Triangular Grid Pb Architecture

Manipulating Majorana zero modes (MZMs) holds significant promise in propelling the field of topological quantum computation. While scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) exhibits remarkable capabilities in characterizing MZMs, additional geometrical constraints are imperative for achieving precise and controllable manipulation of these zero modes. To this end, it is of great help to integrate a micro mask within a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system to grow specific patterns containing MZMs. Here, a scenario for manipulating the MZMs in the vortex cores based on a triangular grid architecture is proposed. Additionally, a stencil lithography setup that is compatible with a combined MBE and STM system is introduced and experimentally demonstrated. A fine-tuning of the Pb patterns, between a hexagonal antidot lattice to a triangular grid array, is achieved by adjusting the spatial gap between the stencil mask and the underlying substrate. This study provides new possibilities for the fabrication and investigation of Majorana devices.