A new method for the direct determination of minority‐carrier lifetime is presented, which utilizes transient capacitance measurements performed with varying depletion voltages on metal‐oxide‐semiconductor (MOS) structures. It is shown that the slope of the fill (storage) time versus the depletion voltage is directly proportional to the minority‐carrier lifetime. Good agreement is shown between results obtained with the proposed method and those obtained using a standard technique. The method is limited, however, to low‐doped MOS structures which can be depleted to the back contact.