New cleaning methods using diluted hydrofluoric acid (HF) in combination with an ozonized chemistry have emerged those last few years. Used after a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) step, they significantly reduce the amounts of particles and metallic contaminants. Our study addresses polished reclaimed wafers. Different cleanings have been tested on an automatic wet bench after various steps of the reclaim process: directly post-CMP or after an initial cleaning based on a standard cleaning 1 (SC1) bath with the usual concentrations. We have investigated their efficiency in terms of particles removal, metallic contamination and root mean square (rms) roughness reduction. Typically, a HF step followed by an ozonized rinse step with respectively 1% HCl and 0.01% HCl spikes (cleaning sequence called diluted dynamic clean DDC) induces a 75 to 95% particle contamination reduction. The DDC cleaning also removes common metallic contaminants present in high quantities after a CMP sequence. The amount of metals is found to be as low as 10(9) atom/cm(2) after cleaning, i.e., near the low detection level, this for the principal elements analyzed (Fe, Zn, Ca, and Alu). Meanwhile, the surface rms roughness is less than 1 Angstrom. We have confirmed that the pH decrease through the injection of HCl and/or ozone in water leads to an increase in the redox potential of the solution according to the Pourbaix relation. This leads to a significant metals dissolution in the bath, preventing them from staying on the Si surfaces. (C) 2003 The Electrochemical Society.