Cleaning wafer substrates of metal contamination while maintaining wafer smoothness

A process for cleaning a microelectronics wafer substrate surface to remove metal contamination and obtain an essentially oxide-free wafer surface while maintaining wafer smoothness without requiring an acid treatment step to remove oxides from the wafer substrate surface, said process comprising contacting the wafer substrate surface with an alkaline cleaning solution for a time and at a temperature sufficient to clean the wafer substrate surface, said cleaning composition comprising an aqueous, metal ion-free base and an amphoteric surfactant.