Microhardness studies of zirconium doped cadmium oxide thin films by spray pyrolysis

Full text: Thin films of zirconium doped cadmium oxide are grown from their aqueous solution at a constant temperature of 250 degC by spray pyrolsis technique. Systematic microhardness studies are made on this film at various loads. Typical cracks are observed at the corners of the impressions in this film. The impression formed on zirconium doped cadmium oxide films are very clear, possible mechanism for it is discussed. The work hardening index number (n) for this film is around 2 suggesting that these are moderately softer films. Using Sneddon's solution, hardness values are calculated from the values of elastic constants and measured all mechanical property values are compared with the literature values are approximately equal