Preparation of cadmium-doped ZnO thin films by SILAR and their characterization

Cadmium-doped zinc oxide (Cd : ZnO) thin films were deposited from sodium zincate bath following a chemical dipping technique called successive ion layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR). Structural characterization by X-ray diffraction reveals that polycrystalline nature of the films increases with increasing cadmium incorporation. Particle size evaluated using X-ray line broadening analysis shows decreasing trend with increasing cadmium impurification. The average particle size for pure ZnO is 36·73 nm and it reduces to 29·9 nm for 10% Cd:ZnO, neglecting strain broadening. The strong preferred c-axis orientation is lost due to cadmium doping and degree of polycrystallinity of the films also increases with increasing Cd incorporation. Incorporation of cadmium was confirmed from elemental analysis using EDX. The optical bandgap of the films decreases with increasing Cd dopant. The value of fundamental absorption edge is 3·18 eV for pure ZnO and it decreases to 3·11 eV for 10% Cd:ZnO.