Conventional methods of surface preparation for III-V semiconductors, such as thermal annealing and sputtering, are severely limited for InN, resulting in In-enrichment and the introduction of donorlike defects. This is explained in terms of the unusually low F-point conduction band minimum of InN with respect to,its Fermi stabilization energy. Here, low energy atomic hydrogen irradiation is used to produce clean wurtzite InN surfaces without such detrimental effects. A combination of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high-resolution electron-energy-loss spectroscopy was used to confirm the removal of atmospheric contaminants. Low energy electron diffraction revealed a (I X 1) surface reconstruction after cleaning. Finally, XPS revealed In/N intensity ratios consistent with a predominantly In polarity InN film terminated by In-adlayers in analogy with c-plane GaN{0001}-(1 X 1) surfaces. (c) 2005American Vacuum Society.