Structural, morphological, luminescent and electronic properties of sprayed aluminium incorporated iron oxide thin films

Thin films of aluminium incorporated Fe₂O₃, synthesized by simple chemical spray pyrolysis on to glass substrates using aqueous solutions of analytical reagent grade ferric trichloride and aluminium nitrate as precursors. The influence of aluminium doping on to morphological properties, contact angle, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, photoluminescence and thermal conductivity properties have been investigated. The preparative parameters have been optimized to obtain good quality thin films which are uniform and well adherent to the substrate. The FE-SEM and AFM micrographs depict the films are compact and homogeneous (spindle-shaped hematite nanostructures) with varying grain sizes (average grain size ~ 20-60 nm). Contact angle measurement show the films are hydrophobic in nature. The chemical composition and valence states of constituent elements in Fe₂O₃ are analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The excitonic strong violet emission has been observed in photoluminescence. The specific heat and thermal conductivity study shows the phonon conduction behavior is dominant in these polycrystalline films. We studied interparticle interactions like grains, grain boundary effects using complex impedance spectroscopy.