Abstract
The preparation and analysis of morphological, structural, optical, vibrational and compositional properties of tin monosulfide (SnS) thin films deposited on glass substrate by chemical spray pyrolysis is reported herein. The growth conditions were evaluated to reduce the presence of residual phases different to the SnS orthorhombic phase. X-ray diffraction spectra revealed the polycrystalline nature of the SnS films with orthorhombic structure and a preferential grain orientation along the (111) direction. At high substrate temperature (450°C), a crystalline phase corresponding to the Sn2S3 phase was observed. Raman spectroscopy confirmed the dominance of the SnS phase and the presence of an additional Sn2S3 phase. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images reveal that the SnS film morphology depends on the substrate temperature. Between 250°C and 350°C, SnS films were shaped as rounded grains with some cracks between them, while at substrate temperatures above 400°C, films were denser and more compact. Energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis showed that the stoichiometry of sprayed SnS films improved with the increase of substrate temperature and atomic force microscopy micrographs showed films well covered at 350°C resulting in a rougher and bigger grain size. Optical and electrical measurements showed that the optical bandgap and the resistivity decreased when the substrate temperature increased, and smaller values, 1.46 eV and 60 Ω cm, respectively, were attained at 450°C. These SnS thin films could be used as an absorber layer for the development of tandem solar cell devices due to their high absorbability in the visible region with optimum bandgap energy.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
N.R. Mathews, H.B.M. Anaya, M.A. Cortes-Jacome, C. Angeles-Chavez, and J.A. Toledo-Antonio, J. Electrochem. Soc. 157, H337 (2010).
N. Koteeswara Reddy, K. Ramesh, R. Ganesan, K. Reddy, K.R. Gunasekhar, and E. Gopal, Appl. Phys. A 83, 133 (2006).
J.J. Loferski, J. Appl. Phys. 27, 777 (1956).
K.T.R. Reddy, N.K. Reddy, and R.W. Miles, Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. C 90, 3041 (2006).
C. Gao, H.L. Shen, L. Sun, H.B. Huang, L.F. Lu, and H. Cai, Mater. Lett. 64, 2177 (2010).
D. Avellaneda, M.T.S. Nair, and P.K. Nair, J. Electrochem. Soc. 155, D517 (2008).
J.R.S. Brownson, C. Georges, and C. Levy-Clement, Chem. Mater. 19, 3080 (2007).
P. Sinsermsuksakul, J. Heo, W. Noh, A.S. Hock, and R.G. Gordon, Adv. Eng. Mat 1, 1116 (2011).
T. Sall, M. Mollar, and B. Marí, J. Mater. Sci. 51, 7607 (2016).
K. Otto, A. Katerski, O. Volobujeva, A. Mere, and M. Krunks, Energy Proc. 3, 63 (2011).
J. Malaquias, P.A. Fernandes, P.M.P. Salomé, and A.F. da Cunha, Thin Solid Films 519, 7416 (2011).
T.H. Sajeesh, A.R. Warrier, C. Sudha Kartha, and K.P. Vijayakumar, Thin Solid Films 518, 4370 (2010).
M. Vasudeva Reddy, G. Sreedevi, C. Park, R.W. Miles, and K.T. Ramakrishna Reddy, Curr. Appl. Phys. 15, 588 (2015).
A. Molenaar, Extended Abstracts, vol. 84-2, Pennington, N.J., 634 (1984)
S. López, S. Granados, and A. Ortiz, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 11, 433 (1996).
B. Cullity, Elements of X-ray Diffraction (New York: Addision-Wesley Publishing Company Inc, 1967), p. 501.
G. Willeke, R. Dasbach, B. Sailer, and E. Bucher, Thin Solid Films 213, 271 (1992).
H.R. Chandrasekhar, R.G. Humphreys, U. Zwick, and M. Cardona, Phys. Rev. B 15, 2177 (1977).
S. Cheng and G. Conibeer, Thin Solid Films 520, 837 (2011).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (ENE2013-46624-C4-4-R) and Generalitat valenciana (Prometeus 2014/044).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sall, T., Soucase, B.M., Mollar, M. et al. SnS Thin Films Prepared by Chemical Spray Pyrolysis at Different Substrate Temperatures for Photovoltaic Applications. J. Electron. Mater. 46, 1714–1719 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-5215-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-5215-9