The present invention provides a method of preparing a surface of a silicon wafer for formation of HSG structures. The method contemplates providing a wafer having at least one HSG template comprising polysilicon formed in BPSG, the HSG template being covered by silicon dioxide. The wafer is treated with a cleaning agent to clean the surface of the wafer. Next, the wafer is treated with a conditioning agent. The conditioning agent removes native oxide from the HSG template without excessively etching structural BPSG. Preferably, the conditioning agent also removes a thin layer of polysilicon on the HSG template. The wafer is then transferred to a process chamber for HSG formation.