Water vapor annealing technique on diamond surfaces for next-generation power devices

Diamonds are often displayed in exquisite jewelry. But this solid form of carbon is also renowned for its outstanding physical and electronic properties. In Japan, a collaboration between researchers at Kanazawa University's Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology and AIST in Tsukuba, led by Ryo Yoshida, has used water vapor annealing to form hydroxyl-terminated diamond surfaces that are atomically flat.