Ellipsometric investigations of Fe3+-doped polyvinyl alcohol films

In this work, we study the inclusion mechanism of Fe³⁺ ions in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix. Thin films of pure and FeCl₃-doped PVA on silicon substrates, prepared by the spin-coating method, are investigated using spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. SE measurements of PVA and Fe³⁺-doped thin films are carried out at an incidence angle of 75° over the wavelength range of 0.24–1.1 μm. An optical model is used to obtain the refractive index (n) and the extinction coefficient (k). The gap energy E _g is afterwards evaluated. The Fe³⁺ doping is found to affect strongly the optical parameters of the polymer films. In fact, an increase in the refractive index with doping is observed, resulting from the intermolecular hydrogen bonding between Fe³⁺ ions with the adjacent OH group of PVA. The increase of the thin films' absorption with doping is estimated by the k spectral profile analysis. The gap energy is then calculated and shows an important decrease with the Fe³⁺ filling, more pronounced for low doped samples. Such a behavior is confirmed by FT-IR analysis.