Influence of deposition temperature on the efficiency of SnS solar cells

Abstract In this paper, studies on the photovoltaic performance of the orthorhombic SnS device with respect to bath temperature are reported. Firstly, the effect of bath temperature on the physical properties of SnS layers was analyzed using appropriate characterization techniques. The deposited films exhibited an orthorhombic crystal structure with an intense (1 1 1) reflection of SnS. The band gap of 1.3 eV for good solar radiation absorption and a minimum value of electrical resistivity of 38 Ω-cm for easy carrier transport were obtained at 70 °C. In addition, the films had compact morphology with uniformly distributed large grains of approximately 220 nm. Finally, the optimal SnS absorber exhibited a high efficiency of 0.94%. This work gives a new insight into the efficient deposition of SnS solar absorbers with low material wastage and low environmental pollution.