A method comprises forming a single-crystal-like metal layer on a metal seed layer, the metal seed layer formed on a carrier wafer. The method comprises forming a first bonding layer on the single-crystal-like metal layer. The method also comprises forming a second bonding layer on a dielectric layer of a target substrate, the target substrate comprising one or more recording head subassemblies. The bonding layers may include diffusion layers or dielectric bonding layers. The method further comprises flipping and joining the carrier wafer with the target substrate such that the first and second diffusion layers are bonded and the single-crystal-like metal layer is integrated with the recording head as a near-field transducer.