Patent ID: 8828852

Claim:
A silicon processing method, comprising the steps of: providing an MBE apparatus, comprising: an epitaxy chamber configured to perform molecular beam epitaxy on a silicon material; two preparation chambers, at least one preparation chamber of said two preparation chambers configured to clean a surface of said silicon material of surface contaminants by a process having an impurity removal step, and having an oxide removal step, said at least one preparation chamber having at least one mutual communication port with said epitaxy chamber whereby said silicon material can be transferred between said epitaxy chamber and said at least one preparation chamber; said at least one preparation chamber having in communication therewith a plasma source configured to generate an oxidizing plasma, at least one throttle valve, at least one controller, and at least one reactive gas supply configured to provide reagent gases to said at least one preparation chamber; and pumping equipment configured to provide a reduced pressure within said at least one preparation chamber; providing a silicon material to be processed; removing an impurity from a surface of said silicon material; reacting an oxide present on said surface of said silicon material with reagent gases to form a silicon compound volatile at a temperature below 450° C.; and removing said silicon compound to provide a clean hydrogen-bonded silicon surface on said silicon material.