Influence of annealing in nitrogen on the structural, electrical, and optical properties of CdO films doped with samarium

Thin films of cadmium oxide (CdO) doped with 1.5 wt pct samarium were prepared by a vacuum evaporation on glass and Si wafer substrates. The prepared films were annealed in nitrogen gas at 200 degrees C, 250 degrees C, and 300 degrees C and characterised by the X-ray fluorescence and diffraction. It was observed that the N-annealing of CdO:Sm films has no a considerable effect on their CdO cubic crystalline parameters, crystallinity, and energy gap. However, the electrical measurements show that CdO:Sm is an n-type degenerate semiconductor and the nitridation increases its conductivity and carrier concentration. These results were explained according to the available models. In general, the low-temperature nitridation is a useful complementary operation for the production a better transparent conducting oxide TCO. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.