Study of dopant concentration effect on the physical properties of spin coated anatase TiO 2 :Al 3+ thin films

Study of dopant concentration effect on the physical properties of spin coated anatase TiO 2 :Al 3+ thin films | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Study of dopant concentration effect on the physical properties of spin coated anatase TiO 2 :Al 3+ thin films Saadia Chala, Hanane Saidi, Ammar Derbali, Abdellah Attaf, Mohamed Saleh Aida, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4781018/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 10 Apr, 2025 Read the published version in Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In this work, transparent undoped and Al-doped TiO 2 thin films have been deposited on heated glass substratesthrough spin coating sol-gel processingtechnique.PristineTiO 2 and Al-doped TiO 2 thin filmswere synthesized with different Al doping ratio ranged from 0 to 6%.The influence of Al doping on the structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of TiO 2 thin films have been investigated.The synthesized samples were characterization via various techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Vis spectrophotometer, photoluminescence (PL) spectra and four-point probe measurement, respectively. The XRD analysis pattern confirms the existence of the anatase TiO 2 phases with preferred orientation along the (101) direction. Furthermore, as the Al doping concentration increases, the crystallite size firstly decreased from 20.3 to 15.7 nm and then increased from 15.7 to 19.8 nm. The surface morphology analysis of the deposited Al:TiO 2 thin films reveals the homogenous distribution of condensed spherical shape particles and agglomerates small grains on glass substrate surface. Moreover, the optical analyses exhibit that the films have a high transmittance in the visible range reach to 87%. Moreover, the addition of Aluminum (Al) is found that film’s optical band gap varies in the range from 3.64 to 3.73 eV. In addition, according to FTIR spectra confirmed the successfully formation of the TiO 2 phase in all samples. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra analysis shows the distinguishable emission peaks located in the ultraviolet and visible regions for all samples. The films electrical resistivity showed an apparent dependence on Al content, which substantially decreases with the increasing Al concentration from 9.5×10 − 2 to 9×10 − 3 Ω.cm. TiO2 thin film Sol–gel Spin coating technique Al doping Physical properties Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 10 Apr, 2025 Read the published version in Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 29 Aug, 2024 Reviews received at journal 25 Aug, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Aug, 2024 Reviews received at journal 07 Aug, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 25 Jul, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Jul, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 23 Jul, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 22 Jul, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 22 Jul, 2024 First submitted to journal 22 Jul, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4781018","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":338507833,"identity":"80edcd55-4590-4b8f-943c-729da769e1b9","order_by":0,"name":"Saadia Chala","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Biskra","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Saadia","middleName":"","lastName":"Chala","suffix":""},{"id":338507834,"identity":"5b4c7cf3-e1d3-46b0-8f2e-0b36cc0fcf26","order_by":1,"name":"Hanane Saidi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of 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TiO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003ethin films have been investigated.The synthesized samples were characterization via various techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Vis spectrophotometer, photoluminescence (PL) spectra and four-point probe measurement, respectively. The XRD analysis pattern confirms the existence of the anatase TiO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e phases with preferred orientation along the (101) direction. Furthermore, as the Al doping concentration increases, the crystallite size firstly decreased from 20.3 to 15.7 nm and then increased from 15.7 to 19.8 nm. The surface morphology analysis of the deposited Al:TiO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e thin films reveals the homogenous distribution of condensed spherical shape particles and agglomerates small grains on glass substrate surface. Moreover, the optical analyses exhibit that the films have a high transmittance in the visible range reach to 87%. Moreover, the addition of Aluminum (Al) is found that film\u0026rsquo;s optical band gap varies in the range from 3.64 to 3.73 eV. In addition, according to FTIR spectra confirmed the successfully formation of the TiO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e phase in all samples. 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