Proceedings of International Conference on Applied Innovation in IT  ·  2026/06/12  ·  Vol. 14  ·  Issue 4  ·  pp. 617–625
Comparative Analysis of Lithium Doping Effects on Physical Properties of Iron Oxide Thin Films
Mohammed Imad Hashim, Ameera Jawad Kadhim, Israa Akram Abbas, Wathiq Ayoub Taha Al Ramdhan, Muhammad Hameed Al-Timimi and Muhannad Jadan
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Abstract
The impact of Li concentration on certain physical characteristics of Undoped Fe2O3 thin films grown by chemical spray pyrolysis (CSP) is examined in this work. Undoped and Li-doped films (2% and 4% Li) were prepared from iron acetate precursor with lithium nitrate as the dopant source. XRD analysis assures a hexagonal (wurtzite) with a prevailing (200) plane. Li incorporation caused a slight peak shift, increased the crystallite size from 18.63 nm to 29.2 nm, and reduced dislocation density and lattice strain, thereby enhancing crystallinity. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) disclosed that average particle size and surface roughness decreased with higher Li doping, recommending grain refinement. Optical transmittance decreased with doping, while the absorption coefficient increased. The bandgap narrowed from 2.58 eV to 2.47 eV with 4% Li, due to presence of defect states. The extinction coefficient decreased, and the refractive index also reduced upon doping. Gas-sensing tests for NO₂ at 150°C displayed that Li doping raised baseline resistance but significantly reduced sensitivity, dropping from 39.53% to 15.95% at 60 ppm.
Keywords
Fe₂O Lithium Doping CSP Structural Properties Optical Bandgap AFM NO₂ Gas Sensing
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