Influence of annealing temperature and Sn doping on the optical properties of hematite thin films determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry

Hematite (α-Fe2O3) thin films were prepared by sol-gel route and investigated for application in H2 generation by photo-assisted water splitting. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance was shown to increase significantly for films deposited on SnO2:F/glass subjected to high temperature (T) annealing (>750 °C). Strong correlation was found between photogenerated current, donor concentration, and Sn concentration as determined by Mott-Schottky analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The effects of thermal annealing and Sn addition in the resulting microstructure and optical properties of hematite films deposited on fused silica substrates were determined by a combination of structural characterization techniques and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Thermal annealing (>600 °C) induces a higher optical absorption that is associated directly to film densification and grain growth; however, it promotes no changes in the energy positions of the main Fe2O3 electronic transitions. The band gap energy was fou...