Oxygen controlled E-beam evaporation deposited p-SnOx thin film for photosensitive devices

•Band gap and absorption coefficient of SnOx can be tuned with oxygen pressure.•Also, thickness of SnOx plays key role on crystal quality and absorption.•Room temperature growth of SnOx absorber layer is achieved using E-beam technique. Thin SnOx films of different thicknesses at different oxygen pressures were deposited on glass substrate using reactive E-beam evaporation technique. Significant changes in the optical and structural properties of the films with change in oxygen pressure are observed. Experimentally obtained absorption coefficient and band gap of SnOx suggests its prospective use as suitable absorber material for photoconductive and photovoltaic devices. In addition to the oxygen pressure, thickness of SnOx layer has also an important role on its optical and structural properties.