Tin Monosulfide Thin Films Research Articles

Tin mono-sulfide thin films were prepared using a two-step process consisting of DC sputtered deposition of Sn precursors over glass substrate held at 150 oC, followed by sulfurization for 1 hour at different temperatures ranging from 250 oC to400 oC. The influence of the sulfurization temperature on resultant films was studied in terms of its structure, morphology and opto-electronic properties. X-ray diffraction study revealed that the films sulfurized at lower temperature (~250 oC) had prominent SnS2 phase in addition to SnS. A single-phase tin mono-sulfide planes corresponding to orthorhombic structure has been observed at 300 oC and found to be highly crystalline at 350 oC. Further, three distinct Raman modes observed at 95, 190 and 218 cm-1 for Sn precursors sulfurized at 350 oC, strongly supporting the formation of single phase SnS. The optimized SnS film showed a direct band gap of 1.35 eV with an absorption coefficient of 5 x 104 cm-1. The valence states of Sn (+2) and S (-2) determined from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis for Sn precursors sulfurized at 350 oC, indicating the existence of SnS. These films had stoichiometric atomic ratio of Sn/S ~ 1 with surface roughness of 20 nm. All the films have shown p-type conductivity and the Sn precursors sulfurized at 350 oC exhibited relatively high conductivity of 0.947 x 10-2 (Ω cm)-1. The optoelectronic properties of SnS films reported in the present work would be highly suitable for device fabrication and promising as an alternative absorber for thin film solar cells. Copyright © 2017 VBRI Press.