The effects of monatomic D diffusion in quantum wells were studied by using photoluminescence and secondary ion mass spectroscopic methods. The multiple quantum well structures were grown by means of molecular beam epitaxy and were hydrogenated with a remote plasma. A significant increase in the 77K photoluminescence integrated intensity of bound excitons was observed after hydrogenation. This was attributed to the passivation of non-radiative recombination centers within the quantum wells. The studies demonstrated that there was an increase in passivation efficiency with increasing Al concentration in the barriers, and that the hydrogenation was stable to temperatures above 450C. Overall, the results all strongly suggested that the passivated non-radiative recombination centers were interface defects.

Hydrogen Passivation of Nonradiative Defects in InGaAs/AlxGa1-xAs Quantum Wells. S.M.Lord, G.Roos, J.S.Harris, N.M.Johnson: Journal of Applied Physics, 1993, 73[2], 740-8