Over the past three years a new family of high efficiency n-type crystalline silicon cells featuring passivated partial rear contacts (PRC) has emerged. These cells take advantage of the unique contact properties obtained by introducing thin metal compound interlayers, such as TiO x and LiFx, between the metallic electrode and the silicon absorber. This paper explores the concept and potential advantages of the n-type passivated PRC cell. In particular, the recent fabrication of a cell at 23.1%, featuring a less-than 1% TiOx/LiFx /Al passivated PRC, demonstrates the compatibility of this concept with high efficiency designs.