We have developed a technique for bonding together two oxidized silicon wafers, resulting in a structure. The process consists of applying a moderate voltage between the wafers at a temperature of 1100°–1200°C. Under these conditions, 3 in. device wafers form a uniform, microscopically defect‐free bond over their entire area. Our experiments indicate that water‐related ionic charges in the steam‐grown oxides are transported to the surfaces by electric field. These charges concentrate the potential drop into the gap between the wafers, giving rise to a large field and strong attractive force, even at low values of applied voltage. This technique can be used for the fabrication of dielectrically isolated silicon devices. The water‐related impurities responsible for the bonding are annealed out during the process itself and do not pose any contamination problems in subsequent device processing. In addition, the bonded silicon wafers are found to be free of stress‐induced dislocations and stacking faults which can degrade carrier lifetime. These advantages suggest that this technique offers a potential low cost alternative to current dielectric isolation technology.