A cadmium oxide (CdO) film doped with any of the Group III elements is
substantially transparent to radiation between about 0.7 .mu.m and 12
.mu.m. A film made according to the invention having a sheet resistance
of <600.OMEGA./.quadrature. will also have exceptionally low optical
absorption throughout the IR range. The film is suitably employed as
transparent, electrically conductive electrodes, and can be used in
devices such as liquid crystal cells for beam steering, spatial light
modulators, optical switches for fiber optical communications, switchable
and/or tunable polarization modification components, and top transparent
electrodes for SWIR (1.3 and 1.5 .mu.m) VCSELs.