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.