We present postdeposition annealing experiments on undoped amorphous-/n-type crystalline silicon [(i)a-Si:H/(n)c-Si/(i)a-Si:H] heterostructures used as precursors for a-Si:H/c-Si high-efficiency solar cells. Comparing conventional hotplate-heating with pulsed microwave-heating we obtain excellent interface passivation and demonstrate that microwave annealing proceeds significantly faster. The effect is ascribed to the details of microwave absorption, which selectively affects Si-H bonds and thus facilitates hydrogen bond reconfiguration needed for interface passivation. Infrared absorption spectroscopy shows that the main contribution to passivation is not stemming from bulk hydrogen reconfiguration. This suggests a hydrogen-rich interface layer, whose occurrence depends on a-Si:H deposition conditions, to be responsible for the fast annealing. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.