Structural, morphological and optical properties of SnS2 thin films by nebulized spray pyrolysis technique

The thin films of Nano crystalline tin disulfide (SnS2) have been prepared by nebulized spray pyrolysis technique (NSP) with different molar concentrations (0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 M). Cleaned glass substrates were used and the substrate temperature was maintained at 300 A degrees C. The films were deposited using tin tetrachloride monohydrate (SnCl4 center dot H2O) and thiourea in de-ionized water and Isopropyl alcohol (1:3 ratio). The prepared films structural, morphological and optical properties were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The structure of the films were found to be face centered cubic with preferential orientation along (002) plane. X-ray line profile analysis was used to evaluate the micro structural parameters such as crystallite size, micro strain, dislocation density and texture coefficient. The average crystallite size values are 60 nm. Morphological results of the SnS2 thin films are small needle shaped particles and the average grain size was 400 nm. The optical studies revealed that the band gap between 2.65 and 2.72 eV and high optical transmittance 98%. EDAX spectrum of tin disulfide result showed some amount of excess tin was present in the sample. This is the method with very low cost of producing tin disulfide (SnS2) thin films, which is very important for many applications in industry.