LAUSR

CdO thin films doped with different amounts of silicon ions have been deposited on glass substrates by the vacuum evaporation method in order to improve their properties for application as transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the host CdO films were systematically studied. The realization of doping with silicon ions was confirmed and studied by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) method. It was concluded that Si ions occupied locations in interstitial positions and structural vacancies of the CdO lattice. The bandgap of Si-doped CdO was blue shifted following the Moss-Burstein (B-M) effect. The dc-electrical behaviors were studied by the Van der Pauw method showing that the prepared Si-doped CdO films were degenerate semiconductors of controllable opto-electrical properties by doping level. The utmost improvements in mobility (μ) and conductivity (σ) took place with the host CdO film doped with ∼2% Si, so that the mobility increased by ∼10 times and the conductivity by ∼100 times compared to the pristine CdO film. The results show that silicon is effective for CdO utilization in applications in the TCO field.