Highly transparent and conducting CdO films grown by chemical spray pyrolysis

Thin films of CdO have been deposited using a spray pyrolysis process and the physical properties investigated for the layers deposited using different substrate temperatures. The techniques used to investigate the layers include X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, transmittance and reflectance vs. wavelength measurements, and Van der Pauw measurements. Single-phase layers of CdO were produced for substrate temperatures >175 °C, but the most transmissive layers with the lowest values of resistivity were obtained for layers grown at 200 °C. The high figure of merit of these layers (1.02×102 Ω−1) means that they could find application in large-area electronic devices.