Structural, optical, and electrical properties of tin sulfide thin films grown by spray pyrolysis

Abstract Tin sulfide (SnS) thin films have been prepared by spray pyrolysis (SP) technique using tin chloride and N, N-dimethylthiourea as precursor compounds. Thin films prepared at different temperatures have been characterized using several techniques. X-ray diffraction studies have shown that substrate temperature ( T s ) affects the crystalline structure of the deposited material as well as the optoelectronic properties. The calculated optical band gap ( E g ) value for films deposited at T s = 320–396 °C was 1.70 eV (SnS). Additional phases of SnS 2 at 455 °C and SnO 2 at 488 °C were formed. The measured electrical resistivity value for SnS films was ∼ 1 × 10 4 Ω-cm.