Nearly flat, terraced, hydrogen-terminated, 1x1(100) silicon prepared by high-temperature exposure to H-2

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 degrees C) in H-2, cooling to moderate temperature (670-700 degrees C) in the same ambient, and quenching to room temperature in N-2. 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.