Effect of insulating glass substrate and conductive on SnS thin films physical properties grown by spray syringe pump method

• Published in: Optical and quantum electronics Vol. 56; no. 8
• Main Authors: Messaoudi, Meriem, Lamiri, Leila, Boudour, Samah, Beddek, Lynda, Dekhili, Mohamed, Belgherbi, Ouafia, Khemliche, Hamza, Aida, Mohammed Salah, Attaf, Nadir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 03.08.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Carrier density; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Commercialization; Computer Communication Networks; Electrical Engineering; Electrical resistivity; Glass substrates; Hall effect; Indium tin oxides; Insulation; Lasers; Optical Devices; Optics; Photonics; Physical properties; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Room temperature; Spraying; Stoichiometry; Surface roughness; Syringes; Thin films; FTO; Non-coated glass; SnS; Conductive substrate; ITO; Spray syringe pump
• DOI: 10.1007/s11082-024-07216-7
• ISSN: 1572-817X; 0306-8919

Effect of non-conductive and conductive substrates on the structural, morphological and other properties of SnS material were analyzed by depositing SnS orthorhombic thin films via spray syringe pump deposition method. Targeted substrates were a commercialized non-coated (non-conductive) glass and two commercialized glass substrates coated with FTO and ITO conductive oxides. Each substrate was maintained at a temperature of 350 ℃ during spraying process for 20 min. Grown SnS/ITO, SnS/FTO and SnS/glass were characterized. XRD technique showed noticeable crystallinity with no new secondary phases in all grown SnS films. Preferential orientation was along the (021) plane except for the SnS/FTO film, which showed preferential orientation along (131) plane. As regards the AFM and MEB techniques, SnS/FTO films showed low surface roughness (RMS), large grains and nearly stoichiometry between Sn and S elements with Sn/S ratio of 0.96 at.%. Optical bandgap values were dissimilar and found to be of 1.8, 1.5 and 1.62 eV for SnS/glass, SnS/FTO and SnS/ITO films, respectively. At room temperature, Hall measurements confirmed p-type conductivity for all grown SnS films with positive Hall coefficient and higher electrical conductivity and higher carrier concentration of 15.61 (Ω cm) −1 and 1.79 × 10 18 (ions/cm −3 ), respectively, for grown SnS/FTO film. As a satisfactory outcome, the FTO glass substrate strengthens the SnS films to be a suitable hetero-layer, for example, in thin film photovoltaic.