The present invention generally provides a precleaning process prior to moralization for submicron features on substrates. The method includes cleaning the submicron features with radicals from a plasma of a reactive gas such as oxygen, a mixture of CF4/O2, or a mixture of He/NF3, wherein the plasma is preferably generated by a remote plasma source and the radicals are delivered to a chamber in which the substrate is disposed. Native oxides remaining in the submicron features are preferably reduced in a second step by treatment with radicals from a plasma containing hydrogen. Following the first or both precleaning steps, the features can be filled with metal by available moralization techniques which typically include depositing a barrier/liner layer on exposed dielectric surfaces prior to deposition of aluminum, copper, or tungsten. The precleaning and moralization steps can be conducted on available integrated processing platforms.