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This letter investigates the potential of a low-temperature plasma grown silicon oxy-nitride (SiO x N y ) film for surface passivation of silicon surfaces. Using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the film composition is studied to identify the process condition for obtaining a smooth Si-SiO x N y interface. D it in the order of ∼10 10 eV −1 cm −2 , is obtained on capping the SiO x N y with a silicon nitride (SiN v :H) film, followed by annealing at 550°C for 2 s. A surface recombination velocity of 50 cm/s is obtained for the SiO x N y -SiN v :H stack when annealed at 400°C for 2 s. The growth of an interfacial SiO x N y prior to SiN v :H deposition is found to improve the thermal stability of the silicon nitride passivation. The stack could be an interesting option with further optimization for surface passivation of n-type surfaces in mono-and multicrystalline silicon solar cells.