Synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline SnS films grown by thermal evaporation technique

The SnS films were grown on glass substrates using the thermal evaporation technique at different substrate temperatures (T-s) varied from 20 to 300 degrees C, and their physical properties were studied with appropriate techniques. While increasing T-s, the sulfur content in the films decreased and the Sn to S atomic percent ratio increased from 1.01 to 1.42. The structural studies showed that most of the crystallites in the films were grown along (111) direction and their grain size increased between similar to 18 and 41 nm with the increase of T-s. The SnS films grown at T-s = 300 degrees C exhibited considerably low electrical resistivity of similar to 43 Omega cm with an average grain size of similar to 40 nm. These films also exhibited a direct optical bandgap of similar to 2.0 eV with a high absorption coefficient, similar to 10(6) cm(-1). These results indicate that the physical properties of nanocrystalline SnS films are comparable to the properties of bulk as well as microstructured SnS films and are suitable for photovoltaic or nanoquantum-well device applications. (c) 2007 The Electrochemical Society.