Simulation of the photocurrent of surface-barrier structures (SBS) with texturized interface has been performed on the basis of obtained theoretical expression for internal quantum efficiency of homogeneous SBS and the model of parallelly connected diodes. The role of various sources of recombination losses (in the semiconductor, at the interface and due to the emission of majority carriers into the metal) in solar energy convertors has been analyzed. The complex method of characterization of SBS with texturized interface is proposed that includes an analysis of optical, electric and photoelectric characteristics. The possibility to increase the photosensitivity of the Au/GaAs SBS due to texturization and sulfur passivation of the interface for two types of microrelief (dendritic and quasigrating) obtained by wet anisotropic etching has been investigated. The morphology and statistical geometric characteristics of the interface were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The obtained results allowed to determine the change of optical and electronic (recombination) parameters of the interface caused by the used processing (texturization, passivation). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.