Chromium – An effective dopant for engineering the structural and the optical properties of CdO nanostructures grown by SILAR method

Abstract Cadmium oxide thin films were prepared with various levels (1%, 3% and 5%) of chromium dopants. Successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method has been employed to prepare these thin films on glass substrates at room temperature. The changes in morphological, structural, and optical properties of the produced CdO thin films were explored. The effects of Cr doping were studied thoroughly by performing X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis (EDS), ultraviolet–visible spectrometer (Uv–vis), and photoluminescence (PL) spectrometer measurements of the thin films. The XRD measurements show that the samples have the cubic crystal structure. Surface morphologies of the samples are clearly affected by different concentrations of Cr doping. The EDS analysis affirmed the presence of Cr elements in the structure of CdO nanostructures after doping. It was observed that the band gaps calculated using absorption measurements can be manipulated from 2.51 eV to 2.87 eV with varying Cr doping rates in the CdO nanostructures. The PL spectrum displayed that the PL intensity of the CdO nanostructures may also be tuned depending on different concentrations of Cr dopings.