Title:The study of deposition conditions effect on the structural and photo- thermo electrical properties of SnxSy optical semiconducting thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis technique

Tin sulfide thin films (Sn_xS_y) with an atomic ratio of y/x = 0.5 have been deposited on a glass substrate by spray pyrolysis. The effects of deposition parameters, such as spray solution rate (R), substrate temperature (T_s) and film thickness (t), on the structural, optical, thermo-electrical and photoconductivity related properties of the films have been studied. The precursor solution was prepared by dissolving tin chloride (SnCl₄, 5H₂O) and thiourea in propanol, and Sn_xS_y thin film was prepared with a mole ratio of y/x = 0.5. The prepared films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-vis spectroscopy. It is indicated that the XRD patterns of Sn_xS_x films have amorphous and polycrystalline structures and the size of the grains has been changed from 7 to 16 nm. The optical gap of Sn_xS_x thin films is determined to be about 2.41 to 3.08 eV by a plot of the variation of (αhν)² versus hν related to the change of deposition conditions. The thermoelectric and photo-conductivity measurement results for the films show that these properties are depend considerably on the deposition parameters.

Effect of deposition conditions on the physical properties of SnxSy thin films prepared by the spray pyrolysis technique