Nearly flat, terraced, hydrogen-terminated, 1×1 (100) silicon prepared by high-temperature exposure to H2

A method is described for the preparation of device-quality, nearly flat, terraced, hydrogen-terminated, (100) silicon. The method requires heating at high temperature (say, 1100 °C) in H2, cooling to moderate temperature (670–700 °C) in the same ambient, and quenching to room temperature in N2. Evidence that the process really results in the said surface is based on atomic force microscopy, infrared absorption spectroscopy in the attenuated total reflection mode, thermal programmed desorption, reflection high energy electron diffraction, and angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.