Structural, optical, photoluminescence, and EPR behaviour of novel Zn0·80Cd0·20O thick films: An effect of different sintering temperatures

Zn0·80Cd0·20O (ZnCdO) alloy coated screen-printed films on glass substrates were sintered in muffle furnace at different temperatures (500 °C, 550 °C & 600 °C) for 10 min duration and probed by different analytical techniques to reveal the effect of sintering on their structure, optical and electrical characteristics. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns exhibit polycrystalline phases of both hexagonal ZnO and cubic (CdO) crystal structures with a maximum intensity along (101) diffraction plane. UV-VIS and photoluminescence (PL) absorbance peaks exhibit red shift in their respective spectra. Zn–O, Cd–O stretching modes were observed in infrared transmission spectra of the raw and sintered films in 4000–400 cm−1 region, respectively. EPR studies exhibit the formation of oxygen vacancies and inherent defect in the Cd alloyed ZnO composite developed during synthesis process. All the parameters such as particle size, optical constants, activation energies and paramagnetic oxygen vacancies have been affected by sintering temperature.