Deposition of the layered semiconductor SnS2 onto H-terminated Si(1 1 1) surfaces: failure of van der Waals epitaxy and possible implications

SnS2 films deposited on H-terminated Si(1 1 1) surfaces are studied by photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), low energy electron diffraction (LEED), atomic force microscopy (AFM). Single doublet structure for S 2p and Sn 4d core-level spectra of crystalline SnS2 are obtained after 16 min deposition time and do not change with annealing up to 400 °C. It seems that there is an intermediate phase at low coverage, which is most likely induced by the interaction of S with the Si substrate. SnS2 layer is observed to be stable up to the temperature of 400 °C, and at the temperature higher than 400 °C, H starts to desorb from the substrate surface. No (0 0 0 1) texture is observed in LEED, AFM and UPS measurements. In contrast to other layered chalcogenides no crystalline orientation of the SnS2 film is observed.