Effects of Nid-levels on the electronic band structure of NixCd1-xO semiconducting alloys

NixCd1-xO has a ∼3 eV band edge offset and bandgap varying from 2.2 to 3.6 eV, which is potentially important for transparent electronic and photovoltaic applications. We present a systematic study of the electronic band structure of NixCd1-xO alloys across the composition range. Ion irradiation of alloy samples leads to a saturation of the electron concentration associated with pinning of the Fermi level (EF) at the Fermi stabilization energy, the common energy reference located at 4.9 eV below the vacuum level. The composition dependence of the pinned EF allows determination of the conduction band minimum (CBM) energy relative to the vacuum level. The unusually strong deviation of the CBM…