Hydrogen isotopes have been shown to reduce the electrical effects of various semiconductor defects. Specifically, monoatomic hydrogen and deuterium passivate the electrical activity of defects such as dislocations in long-wavelength HgCdTe grown on Si. We propose a novel method of controlling the intake of hydrogen in HgCdTe IRFPAs by using the H2/He plasma afterglow formed by flowing plasma-generated species outside the discharge area. The reduced reactivity of the afterglow plasma will maintain the IRFPA integrity while a nozzle specially designed to generate a supersonic flow and used to extract the hydrogen species increases the static pressure and axial velocity, thereby enhancing the uptake of passivants.
