Effect of Aging Time on the Synthesis of Fe-doped TiO2 Thin Films by Spin Coating Method

Abstract

The synthesis of Fe-doped TiO 2 thin film using spin coating method was studied. Effects of aging time on the deposited thin film were investigated. Titanium butoxide (C 16 H 36 O 4 Ti) as a precursor solution was mixed with the FeCl 3. Spin coating process was carried out on three types of precursor solution: (1) spin-coating process performed immediately after the precursor solution was made, (2) spin-coating process performed after solution was aged for 24 hours, (3) aged for 24 and (4) spin-coating after aging the precursor for 72 hours. Heating was carried out on the resulting thin film at temperature of 400 °C. The morphology of TiO 2 layers was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). Elemental and phase composition of the films was determined using EDX and X-ray diffraction (XRD). We found that the best TiO 2 layer is obtained when spin-coating process is done after aging the precursor for 72 hours. The layer shows a more uniform particle distribution on the substrate and a more monodisperse particle size dominated by the anatase phase.