Exploration of thioacetamide molar concentration on the physical properties of chemically deposited tin sulfide thin films

The present study investigates the impact of non-stoichiometric elemental composition on the physical properties of chemically deposited SnS thin films via varying the thioacetamide molar concentration. The GI-XRD and Raman spectra confirmed the occurrence of an orthorhombic SnS phase, and the highest crystallinity was observed in the thin films deposited using a 0.55 M concentration of thioacetamide. The band gap values of 1.63–1.82 eV were obtained for the SnS thin films deposited using various molar concentrations of thioacetamide. The morphological study reveals surface agglomeration for all the samples. Further, The EDS analysis elucidated the non-stoichiometric composition ratio of Sn-poor and S-rich and showed an increase in the elemental percentage of sulfur with an increase in thioacetamide molar concentration. Moreover, the lowest resistivity of 3.6 Ω-cm was observed in the thin film grown using the thioacetamide molar concentration of 0.55 M. Graphical abstract