Deposition of transparent conducting CdO on flexible PET substrate

Highly transparent and conductive Cadmium Oxide (CdO) thin films were deposited on poly ethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates by RF Magnetron Sputtering. The structure optical property and electrical conductivity of the thin films were studied. The results of XRD shows that as the sputtering power increases, the intensity of (002) diffraction peak increases at the beginning, but as the sputtering power is greater than 85w, the intensity of the (002) diffraction peak decreases. Results of square resistance test shows that the resistance of the CdO thin film decreases as the sputtering power increases, but the rate became slow when the power is greater than 85w. The result of transmittance test shows that the transmittance of the CdO thin film decreases as the sputtering power increases. Finally, a thin cap layer of Al₂O₃ thin film was deposited on CdO to improve the transmittance of the CdO thin film.