Structural and optical studies of chemically deposited Sn{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin films

Highlights: ► Sn{sub 2}S{sub 3} films were deposited at 30 °C by chemical bath deposition. ► The deposition time of the chemical bath was adjusted to 20 h, 22 h, and 24 h. ► Effect of deposition time on structural and optical properties of Sn{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin films were investigated. ► The presence of characteristic bonds of Sn{sub 2}S{sub 3} was observed from Raman shift experiment. ► The direct band gap of thin films constant were calculated. -- Abstract: Sn{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin films were grown on commercial glass substrates by chemical bath deposition at room temperature. The structural and optical properties of Sn{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin films were studied as a function of deposition time. The thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV–vis spectroscopy. The XRD pattern showed that the Sn{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin films had an orthorhombic polycrystalline structure. The lattice constants of the thin films were a = 8.741 Å, b = 14.034 Å and c = 3.728 Å. The characteristic bonds of Sn{sub 2}S{sub 3} were observed at 66.3, 111.7, 224.7 and 308.9 cm{sup −1} using Raman shift experiment. The optical energy band gap of the thin films decreased from 2.12 eV to 2.03 eV with increasing deposition time from 20 to 24 h. The optical constants of the thin films were obtained using the experimentally recorded transmission data as a function of the wavelength.