TAGRA 2025

Nanostructured materials provide high mechanical stability, high strength, and excellent thermal conductivity. However, preparing coherent nanostructures presents challenges. Furthermore, morphological properties vary depending on preparation techniques and experimental parameters. In this study, the structural, optical, and surface properties of iron-doped WO3 structures grown by the RF-DC co-sputtering method were investigated. The sputtering technique was chosen because it is a repeatable, relatively low-cost, and low-surface-roughness film growth technique, and the optical and structural properties of the grown film can be more easily controlled. In spray application, the rate of contamination is lower due to the vacuum environment, and higher quality binary and ternary compounds are produced. Iron-doped WO3 structures were grown using a simultaneous sputtering method. The sputtering technique involves growing a thin film of ions, atoms, and molecules detached from a metal target on a heated substrate that has been chemically cleaned, with the aid of inert gas. To detach the material to be grown from the metal target, argon is converted into an inert gas carrier plasma using an RF or DC power source, and the plasma beats against the surface of the target metal, performing the detachment process.XRD graphs show that the crystal structure is uniform in both structures. However, an improvement in crystal structure quality was observed after annealing at 560°C. Absorption graphs support the XRD analyses. The film structure annealed at 560°C is more stable because absorption was measured even at low energies, i.e., high wavelengths, in the Fe:WO3 film not subjected to annealing. Optical band gap (Eg) values were calculated from the commonly known Tauc equation. The band gap of the unannealed thin film is 3.3 eV, while the band gap of the annealed film is approximately 3.15 eV. A decrease of approximately 0.15 eV was measured after annealing, which is an improvement in the electro-optical conductivity of the material. SEM data do not show a regular structure before annealing. Nanostructures were observed on the film surfaces after annealing.