Structural, Optical, and Electrical Characterization of Sol-Gel Processed Screen-Printed CdO:Li Film

Abstract

Lithium (2 wt %)-doped cadmium oxide (CdO:Li) film was grown on a glass substrate via a sol-gel processed screen-printing set-up. Through X-ray diffraction, it was demonstrated that the CdO:Li film exhibits reflections from the (111), (200), (220), (311), and (222) CdO cubic phase planes. The SEM image showed irregularly shaped, interconnected, and agglomerated grains on the entire film. The optical diffuse reflection study revealed that the film has a direct transition of the band gap at 2.50 eV. The refractive index of the film varies with photon energy and gains maximum value (~2.3) at 1.5 eV. The electrical attributes of the film were inspected by Hall measurement. It was noticed that the film conveyed n-type conductivity with low resistivity of the order of 10^–3 Ω × cm.