On March 25, 2026, during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference, the National Natural Science Foundation of China unveiled the “Top Ten Scientific Advances in China for 2025.” Among the distinguished honorees, a collaborative research team led by Associate Professor Li Xiexi from the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Microelectronics Institute at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) was recognized for their groundbreaking work titled “Innovative Method for Large-Scale Preparation of Flexible Ultra-Flat Diamond Films.”

Building on an asymmetric model of film growth interfaces, the researchers introduced a novel “edge-exposed exfoliation” technique. This innovation facilitates the large-scale production of inch-scale, ultra-thin, and ultra-flat diamond films through a streamlined “one-step process.” The method dramatically reduces the traditional preparation timeline from tens of hours to mere seconds, significantly enhancing efficiency and lowering production costs. The resulting diamond films boast sub-nanometer surface roughness and 360-degree flexibility. Their ultra-flat surfaces are highly compatible with existing CMOS manufacturing processes, paving the way for the industrial integration of diamond materials in electronics, photonics, and other advanced technological fields.