Abstract: Method for passivating a layer of titanium that has been deposited on a substrate in a reaction chamber to coat the titanium thereby reducing the likelihood of contamination by byproducts of the deposition process or ambient oxygen or similar reactants. The method includes adding a flow of hydrogen and a flow of nitrogen to the chamber. The flows of hydrogen and nitrogen are approximately 800 sccm and continue for approximately 10-30 seconds respectively. The method may further comprise the step of forming a nitrogen plasma in the chamber for approximately 10 seconds wherein such case the flows of hydrogen and nitrogen continue for approximately 8 seconds respectively. The plasma is formed by applying RF power to an electrode located within said chamber or by a remote plasma source and channeled to said reactor chamber. Alternately, the passivation layer may be formed just by using a nitrogen plama alone for approximately 10-30 seconds at the same RF power level.