Influence of substrate material on the microstructure and optical properties of hot wall deposited SnS thin films

Tin monosulfide SnS raises an interest as a promising material for photovoltaics. The influence of the substrate material on the microstructure and optical properties of SnS thin films with [111] texture obtained by hot wall vacuum deposition on glass, molybdenum and indium tin oxide substrates is reported. The lattice parameters for layers grown on different substrates were determined by X-ray diffraction and their deviations from the data reported in the literature for single α-SnS crystals were discussed. The change in the degree of preferred orientation of the films depending on the substrate material is observed. The direct nature of the optical transitions with the optical band gap of 1.15 ± 0.01 eV is reported.