Structural, optical, and electrical properties of tin sulfide thin films grown with electron-beam evaporation

• The effect of electron-beam growth temperature on tin sulfide was investigated.
• Structural, optical, and electrical properties of the thin films were evaluated.
• Low growth temperature was favorable for the growth of orthorhombic SnS.
• High temperature growth led to the formation of Sn2S3 secondary phase.

The effect of growth temperature on the phase evolution and morphology change of tin sulfide thin films by electron-beam evaporation was investigated. Orthorhombic tin monosulfide (SnS) was dominant at low growth temperature of 25 °C, whereas a sulfur-rich phase of Sn2S3 coalesced as the growth temperature increased over 200 °C. Thin film growth ceased at 280 °C due to re-evaporation of the tin sulfide. The dependence of growth temperature on the phase evolution of tin sulfide was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and UV–Vis spectrophotometry. The lowest electrical resistivity of ∼51 Ω cm, with a majority hole concentration of ∼1017 cm−3, was obtained for the film grown at 100 °C, and the resistivity drastically increased with increasing growth temperature. This behavior was correlated with the emergence of resistive sulfur-rich Sn2S3 phase at high temperatures.