Optical behaviour of sprayed tin sulphide thin films

Abstract SnS films have been grown by spray pyrolysis technique on Corning 7059 glass substrates at different substrate temperatures that vary in the range of 100–450 °C, keeping the other deposition parameters constant. The optical properties of the films were systematically studied using the optical transmittance and reflectance data. The optical absorption coefficient and optical energy band gap of the films were evaluated. The variation of refractive index and extinction coefficient with photon energy for the films grown at different temperatures were studied. The SnS films grown at the substrate temperature range 300–375 °C, were showed an absorption coefficient >104 cm−1 with the energy band gap 1.32 eV, measured at room temperature. For these films, the material properties such as the dielectric constants (n, n0, k, ɛ0 and ɛ∞), plasma frequency (ωp), hole effective mass ( m h * ) and carrier density (Nopt) were also evaluated.