The microstructures of Cu/diamond interfaces prepared by surface-activated bonding at room temperature are examined by cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). A crystalline defect layer composed of Cu and diamond with a thickness of approximately 4.5 nm is formed at the as-bonded interface, which is introduced by irradiation with an Ar beam during the bonding process. No crystalline defect layer is observed at the 700 °C-annealed interface, which is attributed to the recrystallization of the defect layer due to the high-temperature annealing process.Instead of the defect layer, a mating interface layer and a copper oxide layer are formed at the interface.The mating interface layer and the copper oxide layer play a role in relieving the residual stress caused by the different thermal expansion coefficients of diamond and Cu. The thermal boundary resistance (TBR) of the as-bonded interface is measured to be 1.7± 0.2×10 -8 m 2 K/W by the time domain pulsedlight-heating thermoreflectance technique, and this value is virtually the same as the theoretical calculation value. These results indicate that the direct bonding of diamond and Cu is a very effective technique for improving the heat-dissipation performance of power devices.