Hydrophilic direct bonding of (100) diamond and deposited SiO$_2$ substrates

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a low-temperature, atmospheric-pressure method for directly bonding single-crystal diamond to SiO$_2$/Si substrates, enabling scalable diamond device fabrication for quantum and electronic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel direct bonding technique for (100) diamond and SiO$_2$ substrates using surface activation and water-assisted annealing, achieving high shear strength and yield.

Findings

Bonding yield of 90% achieved.

Maximum shear strength of 9.6 MPa.

Surface chemistry analysis shows increased -OH groups aid bonding.

Abstract

Diamond has emerged as a leading material for solid-state spin quantum systems and extreme environment electronics. However, a major limitation is that most diamond devices and structures are fabricated using bulk diamond plates. The absence of a suitable diamond-on-insulator (DOI) substrate hinders the advanced nanofabrication of diamond quantum and electronic devices, posing a significant roadblock to large-scale, on-chip diamond quantum photonics and electronics systems. In this work, we demonstrate the direct bonding of (100) single-crystal (SC) diamond plates to PECVD-grown SiO$_2$/Si substrates at low temperatures and atmospheric conditions. The surfaces of the SiO$_2$ and diamond plates are then activated using oxygen plasma and piranha solution, respectively. Bonding occurs when the substrates are brought into contact with water in between and annealed at 200$^{\circ}$C under atmospheric conditions, resulting in a DOI substrate. We systematically studied the influence of piranha solution treatment time and diamond surface roughness on the shear strength of the bonded substrate, devising an optimal bonding process that achieves a high yield rate of 90$\%$ and a maximum shear strength of 9.6 MPa. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used for quantitative analysis of the surface chemicals at the bonding interface. It appears that the amount of -OH bindings increases with the initial roughness of the diamond, facilitating the strong bonding with the SiO$_2$. This direct bonding method will pave the way for scalable manufacturing of diamond nanophotonic devices and enable large-scale integration of diamond quantum and electronic systems.