Deposition of Single Phase Polycrystalline α-Fe2O3Thin Film on Silicon and Silica Substrates by Spray Pyrolysis

Thin films of polycrystalline single phase alpha-Fe(2)O(3)have been deposited on single crystal silicon and amorphous silica (silica) substrates by spray pyrolysis technique in a single step using a mixture of water and ferrocene dissolved in xylene. The films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy techniques. The uniformity of the grown films was evident from the electron microscopic images on both the substrates. The crystallinity and band gap were investigated using X-ray diffraction and absorption spectroscopy respectively. Raman measurements of the prepared films have been carried out using two excitation wavelengths of 633 nm and 785 nm to investigate the depth of homogeneity of the films. The wavelength dependent Raman measurements reveal that the film is uniform across the thickness of the film on both the substrates.