Effect of Silver Doping on Iron Oxide Electrical Properties

Iron silver oxide (Ag x [Formula: see text]O 3 ; [Formula: see text]) structure for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting was grown by RF–DC co-sputtering of an iron–silver target in argon/oxygen plasma mixtures at 300°C, followed by thermal annealing at 560°C. The chemical composition and structure of the deposited film can be tuned by controlling the metal doping and the annealing temperature. The thermal treatment extensively improves the PEC water-splitting performances of the films. XRD patterns of Ag x Fe[Formula: see text]O 3 shown in the figure can be indexed to the hexagonal structure of silver oxide and the rhombohedral structure of hematite and new X-ray Diffraction (XRD) peaks of Ag x Fe[Formula: see text]O 3 structure. The annealing and doping process seems to cause a serious change in the crystal structure of the thin film, it showed a serious change in its electrical properties. The electrical parameters of resistance for thin films were measured using the Hall measurement method at room temperature. With Hall measurements, the n-type carrier concentration of the Fe 2 O 3 structure was calculated, and it was observed that its resistance was 1[Formula: see text]M[Formula: see text]. Likewise, it was observed that Ag x Fe[Formula: see text]O 3 exhibited an n-type carrier concentration, and its resistance was calculated to be 0.5[Formula: see text]M[Formula: see text]. The conductivity change is based on silver doping. The doping process seems to cause a change in the bandgap of the thin film, it showed a change in its optical properties. The film’s optical absorption was measured by UV–Vis photo spectroscopy. Subsequently, the structural and topographic properties of Ag x Fe[Formula: see text]O 3 structures were investigated by high-precision characterization devices.