Optical and Structural Studies of Sol-Gel Deposited Nanostructured CdO Thin Films: Annealing Effect

Nanocrystalline CdO thin films were prepared by sol-gel dip-coating method using a different solution. The as-deposited films were subjected to drying temperature of 120 degrees in air. The prepared films were annealed in different temperatures of 200, 300 and 400 degrees C. The characterization of samples was carried out by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and UV-VIS spectroscopy. Results show that the samples are polycrystalline in nature and the crystallinity of the films improves with temperature. The average grain size is in the range of 19-34 nm. It was observed that the optical parameters of the films were affected by annealing temperature.