Polishing, preparation and patterning of diamond for device applications

Central to future electronic device developments in diamond is the provision of smooth, low defect density substrate materials. This review examines plasma treatments of diamond to enable smoothing of rough surfaces, the removal of damage created by various non-plasma polishing processes previously applied and for patterning into device structures. The favoured reported plasma treatments for surface smoothing are detailed. The characterisation, effectiveness and other fabrication considerations of each plasma process are discussed. Despite significant recent progress the processing technology associated with plasma-etching diamond remains immature when compared to those used for conventional semiconductor materials. [Display omitted] •Substrate polishing and patterning are key to diamond device applications.•Polishing in known to introduce considerable substrate damage•Diamond is notoriously difficult to etch with conventional methods.•Recent progress with etching means low damage substrates and effective patterning approaches are emerging.•This review paper offers the reader and overview of the current state-of-the-art.