Patent ID: 7250085

Claim:
A method of wet cleaning a surface in which the following successive steps are carried out: a o ) the surface is brought into contact with an H 2 SO 4 solution to which 0.5 vol % or less of H 2 O 2 has been added, for a time of about 5 minutes; a) the surface is brought into contact with an HF/HCL solution, having respective concentrations of 0.2 vol % and 1 vol %, in deionized water, for a time of about 4 minutes; b) the surface is rinsed with a 0.01 wt % HCL solution in deionized water for a time of about 3 minutes; c) the surface is rinsed with a 0.01 vol % HCL solution in deionized water, into which 6 ppm of O 3 has been injected, in the presence of megasonic waves; d) step a) is repeated, the contacting time being about 1 minute 30 seconds; e) step b) is repeated; f) step c) is repeated; and g) the surface is dried, wherein the surface is made of a silicon-germanium alloy of formula Si 1-x Ge x where x is greater than 0 and less than 1, x preferably lying within the range of 0.1 to 0.9, more preferably from 0.1 to 0.7 and better still from 0.2 to 0.5.