The critical influence of the indium-tin oxide films formation rate on the degradation degree of the a-Si : H/c-Si interface during magnetron sputtering is shown. It was found that when the distance between the magnetron and the sample is 10 cm, the lifetime decreases from ~ 2 ms to 10 μs, while when this distance is reduced to 7 cm, due to a two-times decrease in the deposition time, a decrease is observed from 1.5 ms to 450 μs. Keywords: silicon, plasma-enhance deposition, thin films, passivation, ITO, solar cells.