Simple Si(111) surface preparation by thin wafer cleavage

We describe a simple method to obtain clean Si(111)2 × 1 surfaces with large terrace sizes, up to tens of microns, using commonly available wafers. The sample geometry and cleavage method make it possible to produce semiconductor samples in ultra-high vacuum systems: that are not explicitly designed to cleave samples or prepare semiconductor surfaces by other means. The force required to cleave the samples is sufficiently low such that they can be cleaved using any available transfer arm, manipulator, or wobble stick in the vacuum system. Large atomic terraces on the order of hundreds of nanometers to tens of microns are easily obtained in this way, as characterized by scanning tunneling microscopy.