Structural, microstructural, and optical properties of SnS films deposited by nanoink’s spraying with a post-growth temperature treatment

This paper presents the effects of annealing on the phase and chemical composition, surface morphology, structure, substructure, and optical properties of SnS films obtained using the nanoink spraying method based on a suspension of nanoparticles. SnS nanoparticles were synthesized in an aqueous ammonia solution using triethanolamine. After the ink was applied to the glass substrates, the samples were annealed at 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, and 500 °C for 30 min in a mixture of argon and oxygen atmosphere. Thin layers of tin sulfide were studied using energy-dispersive EDX, X-ray diffraction analysis, SEM microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and optical spectroscopy. The films are nanocrystalline and contain an orthorhombic SnS phase. In the films annealed at a temperature T_a ≥ 450 °C, tin oxide was detected diffractometrically. These studies also explored the determination of the main structural parameters of the films, such as the texture, period of the crystal lattice, sizes of the coherent scattering regions, and the level of microdeformations depending on the annealing temperature. The optimal conditions for the annealing of the films were investigated.