Effect of thallium doping on the electrical and optical properties of CdO thin films

A series of lightly Tl-doped CdO thin films (1%, 1.5%, 2%. 2.5%, and 3%) have been prepared by a vacuum evaporation method on glass and Si wafer substrates. The prepared films were subjected to structural study by X-ray diffraction, optical characterisation by UV-VIS-NIR absorption spectroscopy, and dc-electrical measurements. Experimental data indicate that Tl3+ doping slightly stretching stresses the CdO crystalline structure and changes the optical and electrical properties. It was observed that Tl doping widens the energy gap of CdO from 2.22 eV to 2.83 eV via a Burstein-Moss energy level shift. The band gap shrinkage was also observed for carrier concentrations N-el > 1.13 x 10(20) cm(-3), which was explained by merging of the impurity band with the conduction band. The optical properties were explained by using Hamberg et al.'s band-to-band transitions and classical Drude theory. The electrical behaviour of the samples shows that they are degenerate semiconductors. The 2% Tl-Cloped CdO sample shows an increase in its mobility by about 1.4 times, conductivity by 5 times, and carrier concentration by 3.6 times relative to the undoped CdO film. From the transparent-conducting-oxide point of view, Tl is sufficiently effective for CdO doping but does not emulate other dopants like In, Sn, Sc, and Y. (C) 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim