Effects of Ultrahigh Vacuum Treatments on Wet Chemically Cleaned Si Surfaces

Ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) environment has been widely used in surface science, but UHV technology has been often considered too complex and expensive methodology for large-scale industrial use. Because the preparation of atomically smooth and clean Si surfaces has become relevant to some industrial processes, we have re-addressed the question if UHV could be utilized in these surface tasks using industrially feasible parameters. In particular, we have studied how UHV treatments might be combined with the widely used semiconductor cleaning methodology of wet chemistry.