Detailed optical spectroscopic investigations were made of N-doped epitaxial layers which had various doping levels and N contents. They were exposed to a H/D plasma, and the effect of this treatment was studied by using temperature-dependent photoluminescence and selective photoluminescence techniques. The results were similar for all of the samples; regardless of their doping properties. The NSe acceptor was strongly passivated, and the deep compensating donor disappeared after plasma exposure. The nature of the main shallow compensating donor was changed by the plasma treatment. The shallow donor in N-doped material, which had previously been identified as being a N-related defect, was suppressed. The results demonstrated directly that all of the compensating donors in N-doped material were N-related defects, and that N could participate in non-radiative recombination centres at heavy doping levels. This further supported the suggested implication of N interstitials in carrier compensation in N-doped samples of this material.

Spectroscopy of the Interaction between Nitrogen and Hydrogen in ZnSe Epitaxial Layers. E.Tournié, G.Neu, M.Teisseire, J.P.Faurie, H.Pelletier, B.Theys: Physical Review B, 2000, 62[19], 12868-74