An inductively-coupled hydrogen plasma (ICP) is used to passivate a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition reactor following an in situ cleaning step. The hydrogen ICP effectively removes the fluorine and hydrogen that typically become impregnated in the walls of the reaction chamber during the in situ clean and thereby reduces the amount of “outgassing” that occurs during subsequent deposition cycles. This outgassing may cause the film of deposition material that normally forms on the walls to flake, significantly reducing the yield of usable devices. The hydrogen ICP passivation process has been found particularly effective in conjunction with the deposition of heavily-doped silicon oxide layers.