Experimental evidence is presented that the effective surface recombination velocity (Seff) atp‐silicon surfaces passivated by siliconnitridefilms (fabricated in a plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition system) shows an injection‐level dependence similar to the behavior of thermally oxidized silicon surfaces. Using the microwave‐detected photoconductance decay method, injection‐level dependentSeffmeasurements were taken on nitride‐passivatedp‐silicon wafers of different resistivities (1.5–3000 &OHgr; cm). The obtainedSeffvalues also show that for low‐resistivity substrates (≤2 &OHgr; cm), nitride passivation is as effective as conventional oxide passivation (and even superior at low injection levels) and furthermore offers the advantage of a less pronounced injection‐level dependence. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.