Optical Characterization of SnS Nanowires by Chemical Vapor Deposition Method: A Combined Experimental and DFT Study

We report on synthesis of SnS nanowires grown on Si substrates by chemical vapor deposition method at various growth temperatures between 800 and 950 degrees C, using gold catalyst. X-ray diffraction and Raman analyses confirmed crystalline orthorhombic phase (Pbnm space group) formation. Field emission electron microscopy showed almost uniform morphology of nanowires with average diameter of 28-98 nm with variable length sizes. Diffused reflectance spectroscopy revealed an increasing bandgap with increasing growth temperature. Bandgap and optical properties of SnS were also studied using density functional theory, showing excellent agreement between experimentally and theoretically calculated bandgap values, suitable for potential optical applications.