Physical properties of thin films of (α-Fe2O3) aluminum doped by spray pyrolysis methods

This work aims to study the effect of doping on alpha-Fe2O3 properties. For this, we elaborated thin layers of pure alpha-Fe2O3, and aluminum doped with spray pyrolysis method. The structural, morphological, and optical properties of the prepared films form different percentages: 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%and 10% were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR, and UV-Vis, respectively. Structural characterization from X-ray diffractograms confirmed the formation of alpha-Fe2O3, it has a rhombohedral structure with strong orientation preferential according to a plane (110) and displacement of the diffraction angles towards large values when the doping rate increases. Studies of transmittance spectra in UV-visible range 550-850 nm, showed high transparency of thin layers elaborated and the increase in direct band-gap energy from 2.59 to 2.78 eV. These characteristics are considered important in all applications.