Effect of substrate temperature on structural and optical properties of reactive dc magnetron sputtered CdZnO thin films

Thin films of ternary cadmium zinc oxide (CdZnO) were prepared on glass substrates by dc magnetron sputtering technique at different substrate temperatures (RT, 100°C, 200°C & 300°C). The structural and optical properties of the films are investigated by glancing angle x-ray diffraction (GAXRD) and UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy measurements respectively. GAXRD pattern confirmed the hexagonal wurtzite structure with a preferred grain orientation in (002) direction for all the samples. The optical studies reveal that, the optical band gap was decreased from 3.25eV to 2.88eV with increase of substrate temperature.