Growth and characterization of PdO films obtained by thermal oxidation of nanometric Pd films by electroless deposition technique

Structural and electrical characterization of palladium oxide (PdO) films grown by thermal oxidation of nanometric Pd films is reported. Pd films were deposited on n-type silicon (1 1 1) substrates by the electroless deposition technique (EDT) in a PdCl2–HF aqueous solution. The growth rate and the structural properties of PdO films were characterized using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy techniques. The electrical properties of the PdO films were measured by the van der Pauw method. The PdO films resulted p-type with a hole concentration of 1020 cm−3 and mobility in the range of 2–32 cm2/V s.