Yes, most definitely so. A metal surface cannot be prepared into an atomicaly flat state through the polishing and etching recipes that we employ to prepare crystals. The polished surfaces that we provide are a starting point for further in-situ preparation in a UHV environment.   The roughness of the polished surface is minimized to provide a surface profile that will naturally evolve into the flattest possible crystal facet of the desired orientation after further sputtering and annealing.