The passivation of point and extended defects was observed after treatment using hydrogenated amorphous Si and the glow discharge technique. Cathodoluminescence images which were recorded at various depths in the samples clearly revealed the passivation of defects at the surface as well as in the bulk. The passivation of various recombination centers in the bulk was attributed to the formation of H-impurity complexes via the diffusion of H ions from the plasma. The amorphous hydrogenated Si acted as a protective layer, and prevented the surface degradation which was usually encountered during unprotected exposure to a H plasma. An enhancement, of the luminescence intensity, of up to 20 times was observed. This was due to the passivation of non-radiative recombination centers. The passivation efficiency was found to improve with increasing amorphous hydrogenated Si deposition temperature. The relative passivation efficiency of donors and acceptors by H in undoped and Te-compensated p-type GaSb was evaluated by using cathodoluminescence techniques, and by monitoring the temperature dependence of the photoluminescence intensities. Effective passivation of minority dopants in Te-compensated p-type GaSb was demonstrated for the first time.

P.S.Dutta, A.K.Sreedhar, H.L.Bhat, G.C.Dubey, V.Kumar, E.Dieguez, U.Pal, J.Piqueras: Journal of Applied Physics, 1996, 79[6], 3246-52