Abstract: Tin sulfide thin films (Sn_xS_y) with an atomic ratio of y/x = 0.5 have been deposited on a glass substrate by spray pyrolysis. The effects of deposition parameters, such as spray solution rate (R), substrate temperature (T_s) and film thickness (t), on the structural, optical, thermo-electrical and photoconductivity related properties of the films have been studied. The precursor solution was prepared by dissolving tin chloride (SnCl₄, 5H₂O) and thiourea in propanol, and Sn_xS_y thin film was prepared with a mole ratio of y/x = 0.5. The prepared films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-vis spectroscopy. It is indicated that the XRD patterns of Sn_xS_x films have amorphous and polycrystalline structures and the size of the grains has been changed from 7 to 16 nm. The optical gap of Sn_xS_x thin films is determined to be about 2.41 to 3.08 eV by a plot of the variation of (αhν)² versus hν related to the change of deposition conditions. The thermoelectric and photo-conductivity measurement results for the films show that these properties are depend considerably on the deposition parameters.

Key words: thin film, tin sulfide, spray pyrolysis, photoconductivity