Preparation of Sn-doped semiconducting Fe2O3 (hematite) layers by aerosol pyrolysis.

Fe 2 O 3 films were deposited on transparent conductive substrates (fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) on glass) by aerosol pyrolysis. The intrinsic nature of as-deposited films requires the addition of a suitable metal dopant. Sn proved to be well adapted to this task, as it increased photocurrents in junctions with an aqueous electrolyte by one order of magnitude as compared to undoped films. The maximum IPCE value (incident photon to current conversion efficiency) was 0.21 at 400 nm for a 120 nm thick film and a maximum photocurrent of 1630 μA/cm 2 at 0.65 V vs. Ag/AgCl under simulated solar irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]