Chemical spray pyrolysis deposition of transparent and conducting Fe doped CdO thin films for ethanol sensor

Transparent conducting cadmium oxide (CdO) and Fe (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 wt%) doped CdO thin films were deposited on glass substrate using facile chemical spray pyrolysis technique. The influence of Fe doping on the structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of CdO thin films were systematically investigated using different characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), UV-vis transmittance and Hall measurement respectively. The XRD patterns clearly reveal the pure and Fe doped CdO films are polycrystalline nature along with cubic crystal structure. AFM images show the roughness of the CdO thin film decreases with respect to Fe doping concentration. The surface structure of the 1 wt% Fe doped CdO film was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Optical transmittance of the CdO thin film decreases with increasing of Fe doping concentration. The optical band gap value of the CdO thin film gradually decreases from 2.61 to 2.18 eV with increasing Fe doping concentration. From Hall measurement, the minimum value of resistivity is obtained for (7.67 x 10(-4) Omega cm) 1 wt% of Fe doped CdO thin film. Finally, the ethanol sensor behaviour was observed using home-built sensor unit. The maximum ethanol gas response of 56.12% is observed for 1 wt% of Fe doped CdO thin films. This result suggests the Fe doped CdO is one of the promising material in sensor applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.