Patent ID: 7641738

Claim:
A method of wet cleaning a surface made of at least one material chosen from the group consisting of silicon-germanium alloys and germanium, the method consisting of the following successive steps: a) the surface is brought into contact with an HF solution with an HF concentration of 0.2 to 2% by volume in deionized water, for a time of 10 minutes or less, the pH of the HF solution being maintained at a value of from 1 to 2 during the bringing into contact; b) the surface is rinsed with acidified, deionized water for a time of 1 to 5 minutes, then an oxidizing agent is added to the acidified, deionized water and the rinsing is continued for a time of 5 to 10 minutes, the pH being maintained at a value of 5 or less, throughout step b); c) optionally, step a) is repeated, once or twice, while optionally reducing the contacting time, which is between 30 seconds and 2 minutes; d) step b) is optionally repeated, once or twice; and e) the surface is dried.