Abstract: Low resistivity transparent conducting Zn_xCd_1-xO films were deposited on flexible Polyethylene Terephthalate(PET) substrates by DC magnetron sputtering. Structural, electrical, and optical properties of the films with different Zn concentrations were investigated. XRD results show that for x0.5, the structure of the film is in CdO phase, while for x>0.5, oriented ZnO phase is dominant. Hall results shows that the Zn_xCd_1-xO films has very high carrier concentration when x≤0.5, and the electrical resistivitiy of the films is at the order of 10^-3Ω·cm. Carrier mobility shows a maximum value at x=0.5. The transmittance of the Zn_xCd_1-xO films in the visible range is much higher than that of pure CdO film. It’s concluded that x=0.5 is the optimal value at which low electrical resistive, high visible transmittance Zn_xCd_1-xO films can be deposited at low temperature on flexible substrates.

Key words: DC magnetron sputtering, flexible substrate, ZnCdO films, transparent conductive films