A compensating deep donor with a binding energy of 57 meV in ZnSe:N epilayers has been studied by means of photoluminescence and selectively excited photoluminescence (SPL) spectroscopy. The emission of 2.766 eV due to transitions between the deep donors and free holes (DdF) was observed at 4 K under strong excitation conditions. The emission at 2.681 eV due to transitions between deep donors and nitrogen acceptors (DdAP) is attributed to the same deep donor as that of theDdFemission through a detailed SPL study. It is also demonstrated that the SPL technique is important for studying the deep levels in ZnSe:N. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.