The effect of substrate surface on the physical properties of SnS films

Abstract

The effect of substrates on the physical properties of tin mono-sulphide (SnS) films has been studied. The SnS films were deposited using the resistive thermal evaporation method on CORNING 7059 glass, ITO-coated glass, Si wafer and Ag-coated glass substrates. The as-deposited films exhibited nearly stoichiometry between Sn and S elements with a Sn/S at.% ratio of ~1.05. Structural analysis of these films indicated that the films are crystallized in the form of an orthorhombic crystalline structure and showed (1 1 1) as a dominant peak, except for the films grown on Si substrates. Si/SnS films exhibited (0 4 0) as a dominant peak. The ITO/SnS films showed high values of rms roughness (~14.9 nm) and average grain size (~225 nm), along with a low electrical resistivity of 8.9 × 10^-3 Ω cm as compared to SnS films grown on glass, Si and Ag substrates. The ITO/SnS films exhibit low resistivity, probably due to the large size of grains, and could be suitable for optoelectronic device applications.