The effect of Eu-loading on the some physical features of CdO

The Eu-loaded CdO thin films were coated on the glass substrates with a sol-gel spin coating method by using Cd(CH3COO)2·2H2O and EuCl3·6H2O salts. The effect of Eu-loading ratio varied from 0 to 4 at% in the step of 1 at% on the structural, morphological, electrical, and optical features of cadmium oxide had been evaluated with XRD, Raman study, SEM, AFM, Four Point Probe, and UV/VIS analysis. The coated films were polycrystalline with (111) preferential orientation and they had a cubic cadmium oxide structure. The granular-structure was observed from SEM and AFM images. The sizes of granules were in the range of 15-220 nm. It was observed that the homogeneity of granule distribution deteriorated with Eu-content. The RMS roughness value increased from 4.1nm to 284 nm with Eu-doping. The minimum sheet resistance was found to be 4.8 × 102 Ω for 2 at% Eu-content, but the maximum optical band gap was determined to be 2.61 eV for 1 at% Eu-content. The Urbach energy varied between 366 meV and 658 meV. As a result of this work, Eu-doping has an important effect on the properties of cadmium oxide.