Diamond is renowned for its high stability in extreme environments, such as high temperatures, high pressures, and strong corrosive conditions, which makes it demonstrate irreplaceable superior performance in quantum devices, high-power optical systems, and ultra-high-frequency electronic devices. Nevertheless, its intrinsic brittleness, difficulty in material removal, and vulnerability to damage caused by processing severely limit its practical application. The inherently rough surface of as-grown diamond necessitates precision polishing to obtain ultra-smooth, damage-free surface with nanometer-scale roughness, sub-micrometer form accuracy, and minimal subsurface damage. This paper provides a systematic review of state-of-the-art diamond polishing technologies, addressing the challenge of achieving sub-nanometer roughness and damage-free surface, with particular emphasis on the need for atomic-level surface integrity. The discussion covers laser polishing (LP), mechanical polishing (MP), ion beam polishing (IBP), gas cluster ion beam polishing (GCIBP), plasma polishing, dynamic friction polishing (DFP), chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), ultraviolet-assisted polishing (UVAP), plasma-assisted polishing (PAP), laser-assisted polishing (LAP), ultrasonic-assisted polishing (UAP), and other major techniques. By deconstructing these technological approaches, four fundamental material removal mechanisms, i.e., microfracture, graphitization, oxidation, physical sputtering and chemical etching, are identified. This highlights that hybrid, multi-physics polishing strategies can effectively balance the material removal rate (up to several μm·h⁻¹) and surface quality (down to sub-nanometer scale), outperforming conventional single-field techniques. Finally, the review outlines future directions, emphasizing innovations in multi-physics coupling mechanisms and intelligent control of atomic-scale manufacturing processes, thereby providing theoretical guidance and technical pathways to overcome the coupled challenges of atomic precision, efficiency, and extreme service conditions.

With the rapid development in advanced industries, such as microelectronics and optics sectors, the functional feature size of devises/components has been decreasing from micro to nanometric, and even ACS for higher performance, smaller volume and lower energy consumption. By this time, a great many quantum structures are proposed, with not only an extreme scale of several or even single atom, but also a nearly ideal lattice structure with no material defect. It is almost no doubt that such structures play critical role in the next generation products, which shows an urgent demand for the ACSM. Laser machining is one of the most important approaches widely used in engineering and scientific research. It is high-efficient and applicable for most kinds of materials. Moreover, the processing scale covers a huge range from millimeters to nanometers, and has already touched the atomic level. Laser–material interaction mechanism, as the foundation of laser machining, determines the machining accuracy and surface quality. It becomes much more sophisticated and dominant with a decrease in processing scale, which is systematically reviewed in this article. In general, the mechanisms of laser-induced material removal are classified into ablation, CE and atomic desorption, with a decrease in the scale from above microns to angstroms. The effects of processing parameters on both fundamental material response and machined surface quality are discussed, as well as theoretical methods to simulate and understand the underlying mechanisms. Examples at nanometric to atomic scale are provided, which demonstrate the capability of laser machining in achieving the ultimate precision and becoming a promising approach to ACSM.

This article presents the three paradigms of manufacturing advancement: Manufacturing Ⅰ, craft-based manufacturing by hand, as in the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, in which manufacturing precision was at the millimeter scale; Manufacturing Ⅱ, precision-controllable manufacturing using machinery whereby the scales of material removal, migration, and addition were reduced from millimeters to micrometers and even nanometers; and Manufacturing Ⅲ, manufacturing objectives and processes are directly focused on atoms, spanning the macro through the micro- to the nanoscale, whereby manufacturing is based on removal, migration, and addition at the atomic scale, namely, atomic and close-to-atomic scale manufacturing (ACSM). A typical characteristic of ACSM is that energy directly impacts the atom to be removed, migrated, and added. ACSM, as the next generation of manufacturing technology, will be employed to build atomic-scale features for required functions and performance with the capacity of mass production. It will be the leading development trend in manufacturing technology and will play a significant role in the manufacture of high-end components and future products.

Human beings have witnessed unprecedented developments since the 1760s using precision tools and manufacturing methods that have led to ever-increasing precision, from millimeter to micrometer, to single nanometer, and to atomic levels. The modes of manufacturing have also advanced from craft-based manufacturing in the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages to precision-controllable manufacturing using automatic machinery. In the past 30 years, since the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope, humans have become capable of manipulating single atoms, laying the groundwork for the coming era of atomic and close-to-atomic scale manufacturing (ACSM). Close-to-atomic scale manufacturing includes all necessary steps to convert raw materials, components, or parts into products designed to meet the user’s specifications. The processes involved in ACSM are not only atomically precise but also remove, add, or transform work material at the atomic and close-to-atomic scales. This review discusses the history of the development of ACSM and the current state-of-the-art processes to achieve atomically precise and/or atomic-scale manufacturing. Existing and future applications of ACSM in quantum computing, molecular circuitry, and the life and material sciences are also described. To further develop ACSM, it is critical to understand the underlying mechanisms of atomic-scale and atomically precise manufacturing; develop functional devices, materials, and processes for ACSM; and promote high throughput manufacturing.