Photoluminescenee (PL) from commensurately strained Sice layers grown directly on silicon substrates and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) of buried Si/SiGe interfaces are used to evaluate different low-temperature cleaning methods of substrate surfaces) for silicon and SiGe epitaxy in a nonultrahigh vacuum system. Both the sources of contamination as well as effective cleaning methods were investigated. The dominant sourer of contamination came from the wafer being outside the reactor, not in the load lock or deposition chamber itself. The optimum surface preparation depends on the ratios of HF . NH4F and deionized water uf solutions that were used to remove the wet chemical oxide on the substrate surface. In situ bakes between 300 and 800 degreesC in 0.25-250 Torr of hydrogen were examined after the ex situ clean using PL and SIMS measurements. An optimized ex situ clean 11:1000 HF(49%):deionized water (DI)] and in situ hydrogen bake (2 min at 800 degreesC in 10 Torr) produces an oxygen- and carbon-free surface for silicon and SiGe epitaxy.