The effect of electron beam heating during the preparation of clean silicon surfaces suitable for epitaxial studies in ultrahigh vacuum conditions was investigated using surface chemical characterization techniques and transmission electron microscopy. The electron beam irradiation produced a disordered surface on the incident side of the sample and well-ordered monoatomic steps on the other surface, even at electron energies as low as 3 keV. These results have significant implications for epitaxial thin film growth. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.