This experiment is concerned with control of organic contaminants accumulated on the silicon surface during wafer storage and handling. A rapid optical surface treatment (ROST) employing white light illumination from a halogen lamp in ambient air is used for this purpose. The results obtained indicate that the effectiveness of removal of surface organic contaminants using this treatment depends on the type of organic contaminants accumulated on the surface which in turn depends on the storage time and ambient in which the wafer is stored. The ROST was found to be as effective as other methods of organic contamination removal, including wet treatments, when the Si surface needs to be "refreshed'' through organic volatilization following shipment or short-term storage. However, it is not as effective as standard wet cleans in the case of wafers stored for a prolonged period of time and frequently exposed to ambient air of varied composition. In particular, this treatment applied prior to gate oxidation is demonstrated to have a beneficial effect on the reliability of thin gate oxides. It is postulated that ROST may play a useful role in the processing of incoming wafers.