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In the field of photovoltaics, semiconductors of the III-V group such as GaAs and InP have been considered as the most efficient absorber materials due to their direct energy band gap and high mobility. In these compounds, arsenic and phosphorus are highly toxic and expensive. In this work we present systematic preparation of low cost SnS thin films and characterize these films to test their suitability for photovoltaic applications. We have observed that the films (with thickness ≅0.5μm) grown at the substrate temperature of 275°C exhibit a low resistive single SnS phase and have a direct optical band gap of 1.35eV with an absorption coefficient of ∼105cm−1. SnS films could be alternative semiconductor materials as absorbers for the fabrication of photovoltaic devices.

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SnS films with different thicknesses have been deposited on glass substrates at a constant substrate temperature of 300°C . The physical properties of the films were investigated using energy dispersive analysis of X-rays, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, van der Pauw method, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements at room temperature. The deposited films exhibit only SnS phase with different orientations. We show that the electrical resistivity, activation energy, and optical bandgap of the films depend strongly on the preferred orientation of the SnS films. The electrical resistivity of films decreased with the increase of film thickness. The optical and electrical data of the SnS film are well interpreted with the composition, crystal, and surface structure data.

Thin films of ZnS with thicknesses ranging from 100 to 600 nm have been deposited on glass substrates by close spaced thermal evaporation. All the films were grown at the same deposition conditions except the deposition time. The effect of thickness on the physical properties of ZnS films has been studied. The experimental results indicated that the thickness affects the structure, lattice strain, surface morphology and optoelectronic properties of ZnS films significantly. The films deposited at a thickness of 100 nm showed hexagonal structure whereas films of thickness 300 nm or more showed cubic structure. However, coexistence of both cubic and hexagonal structures was observed in the films of 200 nm thickness. The surface roughness of the films showed an increasing trend at higher thicknesses of the films. A blue-shift in the energy band gap along with an intense UV emission band was observed with the decrease of film thickness, which are ascribed to the quantum confinement effect. The behaviour of optical constants such as refractive index and extinction coefficient were analysed. The variation of refractive index and extinction coefficient with thickness was explained on the basis of the contribution from the packing density of the layers. The electrical resistivity as well as the activation energy were evaluated and found to decrease with the increase of film thickness. The thickness had a significant influence on the optical band gap as well as the luminescence intensity.

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