Techniques for forming quantum circuits, including connections between components of quantum circuits, are presented. A trench can be formed in a dielectric material, by removing a portion of the dielectric material and a portion of conductive material layered on top of the dielectric material, to enable creation of circuit components of a circuit. The trench can define a regular nub or compensated nub to facilitate creating electrical leads connected to the circuit components on a nub. The compensated nub can comprise recessed regions to facilitate depositing material during evaporation to form the leads. For compensated nub implementation, material can be evaporated in two directions, with oxidation performed in between such evaporations, to contact leads and form a Josephson junction. For regular nub implementation, material can be evaporated in four directions, with oxidation performed in between the third and fourth evaporations, to contact leads and form a Josephson junction.