Surface recombination velocities as low as 10 cm/s have been obtained by treated atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Al2O3 layers on p-type CZ silicon wafers. Low surface recombination is achieved by means of field induced surface passivation due to a high density of negative charges stored at the interface. In comparison to a diffused back surface field, an external field source allows for higher band bending, that is, a better performance. While this process yields state of the art results, it is not suited for large-scale production. Preliminary results on an industrially viable, alternative process based on a pseudo-binary system containing Al2O3 are presented, too. With this process, surface recombination velocities of 500-1000 cm/s have been attained on mc-Si wafers. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.