Structural and optical investigations on CdSe-doped SiO2–P2O5 sol–gel films

SiO2-P2O5 films doped with CdSe were prepared and investigated for temperature sensor applications. The films were synthesized by the sol-gel method, the sol being spin coated on glass substrates. The sols were prepared from tetraethoxysilane and phosphoric acid as precursors for SiO2 and P2O5, respectively, together with ethanol and water as the reaction environment and the hydrolysis reagent, respectively. The films were deposited at three different rotation rates, for 5 days starting from the first day after the sol preparation and thermally treated at 200, 300, 350, 400 and 550 degrees C in order to investigate the changes of the optical and structural properties.