Electrical characterization of Pd-PdO nanocomposites and PdO thin films prepared by thermal oxidation of Pd

Electrical characterization of nanometric PdO films produced by thermal oxidation of Pd films in air at atmospheric pressure is reported. The PdO films were characterized using the van der Pauw-Hall method to establish the effects of oxidation degree of Pd thin films. The measured carrier mobility is directly related to the oxidation rate and film thickness. The produced films are n-type with carrier concentration of 10
¹⁷
to 10
²⁰
cm
^-3
and electron mobility of 22-38 and 20-28 cm
²
/Vs for complete and partially oxidized films, respectively. XRD studies were used as a tool to determine the complete oxidation of the Pd film considering the volume change in the unit cells of Pd and PdO.