The properties of negatively charged D- donor centres have been studie
d for semiconductor quantum dots with the finite spherically symmetric
confinement potential. The energy levels of the ground state (1(1)S)
and the excited states of both the spin-singlet (1(1)P, 1(1)D, 2(1)S)
and spin-triplet (1(3)P, 1(3)D, 2(3)S) configurations have been calcul
ated by variational means. It has been shown that the excited states o
f the D- centre in quantum dots are bound for sufficiently strong conf
inement potential. The conditions of binding for the excited states ha
ve been determined as functions of the potential-well depth and quantu
m-dot radius. The formation of the bound excited states of the D- cent
re is a new property, which results from the confinement of electrons
in the quantum dot. A possible application of the present results to t
he H- ion trapped in a microcavity is discussed.