SnS Thin Films Prepared by Chemical Spray Pyrolysis at Different Substrate Temperatures for Photovoltaic Applications

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• 作者：Thierno Sall ; Bernabé Marí Soucase ; Miguel Mollar…
• 关键词：SnS ; thin films ; chemical spray pyrolysis ; XRD ; Raman spectroscopy ; AFM ; SEM ; resistivity
• 刊名：Journal of Electronic Materials
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：March 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：46
• 期：3
• 页码：1714-1719
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Chemistry and Materials Science
• 刊物主题：Optical and Electronic Materials; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Electronics and Microelectronics, Instrumentation; Solid State Physics;
• 出版者：Springer US
• ISSN：1543-186X
• 卷排序：46

文摘

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.