Titanium oxynitride films for surface passivation of crystalline silicon deposited by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition to improve electrical conductivity

•We investigated the feasibility of thin TiON films as passivation layers.•The carrier lifetime of TiON film was increased about 8 times compared to the TiO2 film.•The carrier lifetime was affected by the interface trap density, fixed charge and crystal phase.•The resistivity of TiON films remarkably decreased with increasing nitrogen contents.