Modification of spray-deposited CdO thin films by 1.5 MeV proton irradiation

Thin films of cadmium oxide (CdO) with different thicknesses in the range of 78–250 nm were prepared and deposited on glass substrates by using a spray pyrolysis technique. A microbeam facility (Lund Ion Beam Analysis facility) was used to irradiate the prepared CdO thin films with a 1.5 MeV proton beam for fluence in the range of 2 × 10¹²–2 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm². The surface morphology of the CdO films was measured by atomic force microscopy, and it was observed that the grain size and surface roughness were increased as a function of ion fluence. A UV spectrophotometer was used to study the optical properties of the samples, and the results revealed that the absorbance and optical band gaps increased with an increase in the proton fluence and CdO film's thickness. This work explores the possibility of CdO material modification using low-energy proton irradiation.