Relationship between photoluminescence and structural properties of the sputtered Zn1−xCdxO films on Si substrates

Abstract Zn1−xCdxO (x=0.2, 0.4) alloyed crystal thin films have been deposited on Si(1 1 1) substrates at different temperatures by using dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The Zn1−xCdxO films are of highly (0 0 2)-preferred orientation possessing the hexagonal wurtzite structure of pure ZnO. At 450 °C, the films have better crystal quality and photoluminescent characteristics. For the films with x=0.2 and 0.4, the corresponding near-band-edge (NBE) energies are 3.10 and 3.03 eV, respectively, both have red-shifts compared with that of ZnO (3.30 eV). For the substrate temperatures lower or higher than 450 °C, the other NBE emission peak appears, the X-ray diffraction intensity of (0 0 2) peak decreases and the related FWHM increases. With the Cd addition up to x=0.4 both the XRD and PL intensity of the Zn1−xCdxO films decrease sharply in comparison with x=0.2.