Antimony doped Bi2O3 thin films

Bismuth oxide system exhibit high oxide ionic conductivity and have been proposed as good electrolyte materials for application such as solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and oxygen sensor. A preliminary investigation for depositing thin and dense antimony doped Bi2O3 films based on wet chemical routes was realized. Antimony doped Bi2O3 films were deposited onto glass substrate from bismuth nitrate and antimony precursor solutions. As chelating agent polyethyleneglycol (PEG) was used and the above-mentioned precursor solutions were sufficiently viscous. Crystallization behavior and microstructure evolutions of the obtained films were investigated using spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), polarized microscope observation, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and infrared spectrometry (IR). The thickness and the porosity of the films were evaluated. The preparation techniques differ mainly in precursor materials and method of deposition, leading to different quality of the resulting films.