Atomically flat surface preparation for surface-sensitive technologies

Tang Cen-Yao^{1, 2}, Rao Zhi-Cheng^{1, 2}, Yuan Qian-Qian^{3, 4}, Tian Shang-Jie⁵, Li Hang^{1, 2}, Huang Yao-Bo⁶, Lei He-Chang⁵, Li Shao-Chun^{3, 4}, Qian Tian^{1, 7}, Sun Yu-Jie^{1, 7, ‡}, Ding Hong^{1, 7}

(a) Grind-polish-sputter-anneal process, (b) sketch map of Ar⁺ ion sputtering bombard, (001) surface of CoSi after grinding and polishing, with magnification of 50 × (c) and 1000 × (d).