Óxidos transparentes condutores (OTC) são materiais que possuem simultaneamente uma condutividade elétrica, com uma transparência de aproximadamente 90% no espectro visível. Devido a estas características, existe um grande interesse da indústria na aplicação dos OTC em dispositivos eletrônicos como células solares, transistores transparentes, display eletrônico, entre outros. Os OTC podem ser sintetizados tanto na fase cristalina quanto amorfa, mas é conhecido que o tamanho do raio catiônico tem papel fundamental na determinação das estruturas corundum e bixbyite no sistemas M2O3, que engloba o In2O3, Ga2O3 e Al2O3, materiais largamente utilizados. Embora estes óxidos tenham sido amplamente estudados, nesta tese que utiliza ferramentas teóricas baseadas na teria do funcional da densidade, é mostrado que o raio pequeno (grandes) do Al (In) favorece a cristalização da estrutura corundum (bixbyite). Por outro lado, devido ao raio intermediário do Ga, a hibridização entre os estados d do Ga e s do O, que é favorecida pelos sítios com coordenação quatro na estrutura gallia, é a chave fundamental para fazer o Ga2O3 cristaliza em gallia e não em corundum ou bixbyite. A estrutura cristalina, juntamente com os átomos que compões o sistema são fatores que determinam as propriedades eletrônicas e ópticas. Sabe-se que o In2O3 possui uma alta transparência devido a um número muito grande de transições proibidas entre os estados da banda de valência e condução, resultando em uma disparidade entre a banda proibida óptica e fundamental. Nesta tese é mostrado que três fatores são fundamentais para gerar a disparidade entre as bandas: (i) simetria de inversão na célula cristalina; (ii) mínimo da banda de condução formada por estados s do cátion e do O; (iii) vizinhança do máximo da banda de valência com um alto acoplamento entre os estados d do cátion e p do O. Estas três características, que determinam um mecanismo de geração da disparidade entre as bandas, levam os estados da banda de valência e banda de condução à mesma paridade, sendo assim, transições por dipolo são sempre proibida. Esta banda proibida óptica ainda pode depender de um outro fator: a intensidade luminosa. Sob a condição de alta iluminação, transições ópticas de pequena amplitude fora do ponto Γ, que poderiam ser desprezadas sob baixa iluminação, passam a ter uma importância muito maior. Uma consequência direta deste efeito é que sob forte (baixa) iluminação a banda proibida óptica \"clara\" (\"escura\") coincide (não necessariamente coincide) com a banda proibida fundamental. Tendo estes conhecimentos, é possível controlar as propriedades ópticas de um OTC através da composição catiônica de um multi composto, por exemplo. O acoplamento entre os estados p do O e d dos cátions é a principal característica eletrônica afetada de acordo com a composição estequiométrica dos multi compostos, refletindo diretamente nas propriedades ópticas. De acordo com o modelo de geração de disparidade entre as bandas mencionado anteriormente, a mistura de M2O3-ZnO é mais vantajosa para os OTC do que a mistura In2O3-SnO2 devido ao grande acoplamento dos estados d do Zn com os estados p do O nas proximidades do máximo da banda de valência. / Transparent conducting oxides (TCO) are materials that combine electrical conductivity, with transparency around 90% in visible spectrum. Due to these characteristics, there is strong industrial interest in applying TCO in electronic devices, such as solar cells, transparent transistors, electronic displays, etc. TCO can be synthesized in crystalline or amorphous phase, however it is know that the atomic radius plays an important rule in the corundum and bixbyite crystals structures of M2O3, associated with In2O3, Ga2O3 and Al2O3, which are materials widely used. Although these oxides was deeply studied, in this thesis which use theoretical tools based on density functional theory, it is shown that the small (large) radii of Al (In) favor the crystal structure corundum (bixbyite). On the other hand, because of the intermediate radii of Ga, the hybridization between the d states of Ga and the s states of O, which is favor by the four fold site in the gallia structure, is the fundamental key to makes Ga2O3 crystallize in gallia and not in corundum or bixbyite. The crystal structures with the atomic composition are facts that determine the electronic and optical properties. It is known that In2O3 have a high transparency because the large number of forbidden dipole transition between the valence and conduction bands states, resulting in a disparity between the optical and fundamental band gaps. In this thesis it is shown that three fundamental keys are necessary to generate the disparity between the gaps: (i) crystal structure with inversion symmetry; (ii) conduction band minimum formed by cations and O s states; (iii) high coupling between the cation d states and O p states in the vicinity of valence band maximum. These three characteristics, which determine a mechanism to generate the disparity between the gaps, leads the valence and conduction band states to the same parity, resulting in dipole forbidden optical transition. The optical band gap may depend on another effect: the light intensity. Under high illumination, optical transition with small amplitude out of Γ point, which are neglected under low illumination, became more important. A directly consequence of this effect is that under high (low) illumination the \"bright\" (\"dark\") optical band gap coincide (not necessary coincide) with the fundamental band gap. Having this knowledge, it is possible to tune the optical properties of the TCO through the cation composition in the multi compounds, for example. The coupling between the O p and cations d states is the main electronic characteristic affected by the stoichiometric composition, reflecting directly in the optical properties. According to the band gap disparity mechanism, mentioned previously, the mixture of M2O3-ZnO is more advantageous for TCO than the In2O3-SnO2 mixture due to the high coupling between the Zn d states with the O p states in the vicinity of valence band maximum.

Magister Scientiae - MSc / Amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiN:H) thin films has a multitude of applications, stemming from the tunability of the material properties. Plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) is the industrial workhorse for production of device quality a-SiN:H. However, this technique has drawbacks in terms of film quality, rooting from ion bombardment, which then results in undesirable oxidation. Hot wire chemical vapour deposition (HWCVD) has shown to be a viable competitor to its more costly counterpart, PECVD. A thin film produced by HWCVD lacks ion bombardment due to the deposition taking place in the absence of plasma. This study will focus on optimising the MVsystems ® HWCVD chamber at The University of the Western Cape, for production of device quality a-SiN:H thin films at low processing parameters. The effect of these parameters on the structural, optical and morphological properties was investigated, for reduction of production costs. The films were probed by heavy ion elastic recoil detection, energy dispersive spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, Xray diffraction, and ultraviolet visible spectroscopy. It was shown that silicon rich, device quality a-SiN:H thin films could be produced by HWCVD at wire temperatures as low as 1400 °C and the films showed considerable resistance to oxidation in the bulk.

Magister Scientiae - MSc / Technological advancement has created a market for large area electronics such as solar cells and thin film transistors (TFT’s). Such devices now play an important role in modern society. Various types of conducting, semiconducting and insulating thin films of the order of hundreds, or even tens of nanometres are combined in strata to form stacks to create interactions and phenomena that can be exploited and employed in these devices for the benefit of mankind. One such is for the generation of energy via photovoltaic devices that use thin film technology; these are known as second and third generation solar cells. Silicon and its alloys such as silicon germanium (SiGex), silicon oxide (SiOx), silicon carbide (SiCx) and silicon nitride (SiNx) play an important role in these devices due to the fact that each material in its different structures, whether amorphous, micro or nano-crystalline or completely crystalline, has its own range of unique optical, mechanical and electrical properties. These structures and their material properties can thus exert a huge influence over the overall device performance. viii Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) techniques are most widely used in industry to obtain thin films of silicon and silicon alloys. Source gases are decomposed by the external provision of energy thereby allowing for the growth of a thin solid film on a substrate. In this study a variant of CVD, namely Hot Wire Chemical Vapour Deposition (HWCVD) will be used to deposit thin films of silicon nitride by the decomposition of silane (SiH4), hydrogen (H2) and ammonia (NH3) on a hot tantalum filament (~1600 C). Hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiNx:H) has great potential for application in optoelectronic devices. In commercial solar cell production its potential for use as anti-reflection coatings are due to its intermediate refractive index combined with low light absorption. An additional benefit is the passivation of interface and crystal defects due to the bonded hydrogen. This can lead to better photon conversion efficiency. Its optical properties including optical band gap, Urbach tail, and wavelength-dependent optical constants such as absorption coefficient and refractive index are crucial for the design and application in the relevant optoelectronic device. The final firing step in the production of micro-crystalline silicon solar cells, allows hydrogen to effuse into the solar cell from the a-SiNx:H, and drives bulk passivation of the grain boundaries. We therefore propose the exploration of annealing effects on the thin film structure. The study undertakes a comparison of optical and bonding structure of the as deposited thin film compared to that of the annealed thin film which would have undergone changes due to high temperature annealing under vacuum. However, it is difficult to simultaneously obtain all of these important ix optical parameters for a-SiNx:H thin films. Ultraviolet visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy will be the method of choice to investigate the optical properties. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a source of useful information on the microstructure of the material. In particular, the local atomic bonding configurations involving Si, N, and H atoms in a-SiNx:H films can be obtained by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Therefore, this study will attempt to establish a relationship between film microstructure of a-SiNx:H thin films and their macroscopic optical properties.

An innovative approach for characterization of one dimensional Photonic Band Gap structures comprised of metallic inclusions (i.e. subwavelength dipole elements or resonant ring elements) is presented. Through an efficient S- to T-parameters conversion technique, a detailed analysis has been performed to investigate the variation of the dispersion characteristics of 1-D PBG structures as a function of the cell element configuration. Also, for the first time, the angular sensitivity of the structure has been studied in order to obtain the projected band diagrams for both TE and TM polarizations. Polarization sensitivity of the subwavelength cell element is exploited to propose a novel combination of elements which allows achieving PBGs with simultaneous frequency and polarization selectivity. The proposed approach demonstrates that the dispersion characteristic of each orthogonal polarization can be independently adjusted with dipole elements parallel to that same polarization. Generally, the structure has potential applications in orthomode transducer, and generally whenever the polarization of the incoming signal is to be used as a means of separating it from another signal in the same frequency band that is of orthogonal polarization. The current distribution and the resonance behavior of the ring element is studied and the effect of resonance on dispersion characteristics of 1-D PBGs composed of rings is investigated for the first time, for both individual and coupled rings. Interestingly, it is observed that 1-D PBG composed of resonant elements consistently has a bandgap around the resonant frequency of the single layer structure.

<div>In this work, we investigate the trade-off between scalability and reliability for next generation logic-transistors i.e. Gate-All-Around (GAA)-FET, Multi-Bridge-Channel (MBC)-FET. First, we analyze the electronic properties (i.e. bandgap and</div><div>quantum conductance) of ultra-thin silicon (Si) channel i.e. nano-wire and nano-sheet based on first principle simulation. In addition, we study the influence of interface</div><div>states (or dangling bonds) at Si-SiO₂ interface. Second, we investigate the impact of bandgap change and interface states on GAA-FETs and MBC-FETs characteristics by</div><div>employing Non-equilibrium Green's Function based device simulation. In addition to that, we calculate the activation energy of Si-H bond dissociation at Si-SiO₂ interface for different Si nano-wire/sheet thickness and different oxide electric-field. Utilizing these thickness dependent activation energies for corresponding oxide electric-field, in conjunction with reaction-diffusion model, we compute the characteristics shift and analyze the negative bias temperature instability in GAA-FET and MBC-FET. Based on our analysis, we estimate the operational voltage of these transistors for a life-time of 10 years and the ON current of the device at iso-OFF-current condition. For example, for channel length of 5 nm and thickness < 5 nm the safe operating voltage needs to be < 0.55V. Furthermore, our analysis suggests that the benefit of Si thickness scaling can potentially be suppressed for obtaining a desired life-time of GAA-FET and MBC-FET.</div>

<p>Advances in modern technology and recent demand for high power applications have motivated great interest in power electronics. Power semiconductor devices are key components that have enabled significant advances in power electronic systems. Historically, silicon has been the material of choice for power semiconductor devices such as diodes, transistors and thyristors. However, silicon devices are now reaching their fundamental limits, and a transition to wide bandgap semiconductors is critical to make further progress in the field. Among them, SiC (silicon carbide) has attracted increasing attention as a power semiconductor to replace silicon due to its superior properties and technological maturity. In fact, SiC power MOSFETs have been commercially available since 2011, and are actively replacing their silicon counterparts at blocking voltages above 1 kV. At these voltages, the specific on-resistance of SiC MOSFETs is 200-300x lower than that of silicon devices. However, conventional vertical SiC MOSFETs are still far from their theoretical performance at blocking voltages below 2 kV. In this regime, the channel resistance is the dominant limitation due to the relatively low channel mobility at the SiO2/4H-SiC MOS interface.<br></p><p> </p><p>In this thesis, the first successful demonstration of a novel power device in 4H-SiC called the trigate power DMOSFET (double diffused metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) is presented. This device reduces the channel resistance by a factor of 3-5× compared with the state-of-art commercial power DMOSFETs, without requiring an increase in the channel mobility. The trigate structure is applied to a power MOSFET for the first time along with a self-aligned short channel process. This new structure utilizes both the conventional horizontal surface as well as the sidewalls of a trench to increase the effective width of the channel without increasing the device area. Conceptual design, optimization, process development and electrical results are presented. The trigate power MOSFET with a trench depth of 1 μm designed for a blocking voltage of 650 V has a specific on-resistance of 1.98 mΩcm²and a channel resistance of 0.67 mΩcm².This corresponds to a ∼2× reduction in the total specific on-resistance, and a 3.3× reduction in the specific channel resistance as compared to a conventional DMOSFET with the same blocking voltage rating. This demonstration is a landmark that could help SiC technology compete successfully in the lower blocking voltage regime below 600 V, and access for the first time a completely new segment in the power electronics application space.</p>

Durable, cheap, and lightweight polymer based solar cells are needed, if simply to meet the demand for decentralized electrical power production in traditionally “off-grid” areas. Using a blend of Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT), Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), and the low band-gap polymer Poly[2,6-(4,4-bis-(2- ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta [2,1-b;3,4-b′]dithiophene)-alt-4,7(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)] (PCPDTBT), we have fabricated devices with a wide spectral response and 3% power conversion efficiency in AM 1.5 conditions; however, this thin film system exhibits only 0.43 optical density at 500 nm. To improve the performance of this polymer blend photovoltaic, we aim to increase absorption by adding CdSe(ZnS) core (shell) quantum dots. Four groups of devices are fabricated: a control group with an active polymer layer of 16 mg/mL P3HT, 16 mg/mL PCBM, and 4 mg/mL PCPDTBT; and three groups with dispersed quantum dots at 4 mg/ml, 1 mg/mL, and 0.25 mg/mL. The (CdSe)ZnS quantum dots are coated with octadecylamine ligands and have a peak absorbance at 560 nm and peak emission at 577 nm. The active layer was dissolved in chlorobenzene solvent and spun on glass substrates, patterned with indium tin oxide. The devices were then annealed for fifteen minutes at 110° C, 140° C, and 170° C. Current-voltage characteristic curves v and optical density data were taken before and after the anneal step. Finally, surface characterization was conducted with atomic force microscopy and electrostatic force microscopy. When compared to the control, the sensitized devices exhibited increased absorption and depressed electrical performance with increasing quantum dot loading. The surface morphology, both electrical and physical, showed deviation from the typical values and patterns shown by the control that increased with quantum dot loading. When the degrading electrical characteristics, increasing optical absorbance, and surface changes, are considered together, it becomes likely that the quantum dots interact in a significant manner with the morphology of the P3HT phase, which leads to an overall decrease in performance.

[ES] El interés en desarrollar biosensores de alta sensibilidad para identificar y cuantificar una amplia gama de moléculas ha aumentado notablemente durante las últimas décadas en numerosos campos de aplicación. Entre ellos probablemente el más demandado sea el diagnóstico médico, el cual ha sido impulsado por el descubrimiento de nuevos biomarcadores de enfermedades, tales como los miRNAs. No obstante, la mayoría de las técnicas existentes para realizar la detección requieren el uso de marcadores debido a la falta de sensibilidad para detectar analitos en bajas concentraciones. Las estructuras ópticas basadas en campo evanescente, donde la luz es usada para transformar interacciones bioquímicas en variaciones de las señales ópticas, constituyen una interesante alternativa para el desarrollo de este tipo de biosensores sin la necesidad de utilizar marcadores (label-free). Concretamente las estructuras fotónicas integradas en tecnología Silicon On Insulator exhiben alta sensibilidad, bajo límite de detección y alto nivel de multiplexación en aplicaciones de detección, especialmente cuando se utilizan materiales y procesos basados en silicio y compatibles con CMOS. En esta Tesis Doctoral se muestra el desarrollo de un biosensor fotónico integrado label-free para la detección de oligonucleótidos, y más concretamente biomarcadores de cáncer miRNAs. Este biosensor está basado en la combinación de estructuras de band gap fotónico y la inmovilización de sondas de tipo molecular beacon sobre su superficie. La combinación de sendos elementos de transducción y bioreconomiento ha proporcionado una elevada sensibilidad en la detección de oligonucleótidos manteniendo un footprint por debajo de 100 µm2. El uso de este biosensor fotónico ha permitido también estudiar experimentalmente una novedosa técnica de amplificación de detección. Esta técnica explota el cambio conformacional sufrido por la sonda molecular beacon tras la hibridación con su oligonucleótido complementario, permitiendo alejar una partícula/molécula de la superficie del sensor, lo cual podría ser utilizado para amplificar la respuesta de detección del sensor. Finalmente se propone una estrategia de regeneración en línea de los biosensores nanofotónicos desarrollados mediante una estrategia química basada en el uso de formamida. Esta estrategia no solo permite ahorrar tiempo sino que también reduce la variación entre las medidas obtenidas en experimentos diferentes, siendo especialmente útil cuando se testean niveles similares de analito. / [CA] L'interés en desenvolupar biosensors d'alta sensibilitat per a identificar i quantificar una àmplia gamma de molècules ha augmentat notablement durant les últimes dècades en nombrosos camps d'aplicació. Entre ells probablement el més demandat siga el diagnòstic mèdic, el qual ha sigut impulsat pel descobriment de nous biomarcadors de malalties, com ara els miRNAs. No obstant això, la majoria de les tècniques existents per a realitzar la detecció requereixen l'ús de marcadors a causa de la falta de sensibilitat per a detectar anàlits en baixes concentracions. Les estructures òptiques basades en camp evanescent, on la llum és usada per a transformar interaccions bioquímiques en variacions dels senyals òptics, constitueixen una interessant alternativa per al desenvolupament d'aquesta tipus de biosensors sense la necessitat d'utilitzar marcadors (label-free). Concretament les estructures fotòniques integrades en tecnologia Silicon On Insulator exhibeixen alta sensibilitat, baix límit de detecció i alt nivell de multiplexació en aplicacions de detecció, especialment quan s'utilitzen materials i processos basats en silici i compatibles amb CMOS. En aquesta Tesi Doctoral es mostra el desenvolupament d'un biosensor fotònic integrat label-free per a la detecció d'oligonucleòtids, i més concretament biomarcadors de càncer miRNAs. Aquest biosensor està basat en la combinació d'estructures de band gap fotònic i la immobilització de sondes de tipus molecular beacon sobre la seua superfície. La combinació d'ambdós elements de transducció i bioreconeixement ha proporcionat una elevada sensibilitat en la detecció d'oligonucleòtids mantenint un footprint per davall de 100 µm². L'ús d'aquest biosensor fotònic ha permés també estudiar experimentalment una nova tècnica d'amplificació de detecció. Aquesta tècnica explota el canvi conformacional patit per la sonda molecular beacon després de la hibridació amb el seu oligonucleòtid complementari, permetent allunyar una partícula/molècula de la superfície del sensor, la qual cosa podria ser utilitzada per amplificar la resposta de detecció del sensor. Finalment es proposa una estratègia de regeneració en línia dels biosensors nanofotònics desenvolupats mitjançant una estratègia química basada en l'ús de formamida. Aquesta estratègia no sols permet estalviar temps sinó que també redueix la variació entre les mesures obtingudes en experiments diferents, sent especialment útil quan es testen nivells similars d'anàlit. / [EN] The interest in developing highly sensitive biosensors to identify and quantify a wide range of molecules has remarkably been increasing during the last decades in numerous application fields. Among them, medical diagnosis is probably the most demanded, which has been driven by the discovery of new biomarkers of diseases, such as miRNAs. However, most of the existing techniques to perform the detection require the use of labels due to the lack of sensitivity to detect analytes at low concentrations. Evanescent-wave optical structures, where light is used to transduce biochemical interactions into variations of the optical signals, are an interesting alternative for the development of this type of biosensors allowing a label-free detection. Specifically, the planar integrated photonic structures based on Silicon On Insulator technology exhibit an extremely high sensitivity, a low detection limit and a high level of multiplexing in detection applications, especially when using materials and processes based on silicon and being CMOS compatible. This PhD Thesis is focused on the development of label-free integrated photonic biosensors for the detection of oligonucleotides, and more specifically miRNA cancer biomarkers. This biosensor is based on the combination of photonic band gap structures and the immobilization of molecular beacon probes on its surface. The combination of both transduction and biorecognition elements has provided a very high sensitivity towards the detection of target oligonucleotides while keeping a sensor footprint below 100 µm2. The use of this photonic biosensor also allowed the experimental study of a novel detection amplification technique. This technique exploits the conformational change suffered by the molecular beacon probe after hybridization with its complementary oligonucleotide, allowing the displacement of a particle/molecule away from the sensor surface, what might be used for amplifying the sensor's detection response. Finally, an online regeneration strategy for nanophotonic biosensors developed through a chemical strategy based on the use of formamide is proposed. This strategy not only saves time but also reduces the variation between measurements obtained in different experiments, being especially useful when testing similar levels of analyte. / Ruiz Tórtola, Á. (2021). Desarrollo de biosensores nanofotónicos de alta sensibilidad para la detección de biomarcadores microRNA en aplicaciones de diagnóstico médico [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/172631 / TESIS

Le rôle de WO3 et de Fe2O3 dans l’amélioration de l'activité photocatalytique des dépôts de TiO2 a été étudié, à travers la dégradation de l'acide salicylique avec deux sources de lumière : UV et visible.Différentes procédures de couplage de semi-conducteurs ont été entreprises (imprégnation humide / mélange de semi-conducteurs à l'état solide / sol gel). Aussi différents substrats ont été testés (verre ordinaire, ITO).La spectrophotométrie UV-Visible (sans / avec sphère intégratrice), la diffraction des rayons X, la microscopie électronique à balayage et la caractérisation électrochimique ont été réalisées afin de mieux comprendre le comportement et le rôle des semi-conducteurs chargés.Des résultats prometteurs ont été trouvés pour les photocatalyseurs préparés par imprégnation humide et par mélange solide (addition de WO3): le gap d’énergie a diminué, l'activité sous la lumière visible a augmenté en conséquence (2,5% molaire de WO3) pour le premier cas. Une amélioration de 30% sous UV (0,5% WO3) a été atteinte pour le deuxième. La méthode Sol gel améliore le recouvrement sur le substrat de verre, elle semble être appropriée pour assurer un bon contact entre les semi-conducteurs et atteindre l’effet désiré : la séparation de charges. Le photocourant a été nettement augmenté avec l’addition de 4% de WO3 (substrat ITO), en cohérence avec le potentiel de circuit ouvert diminué. Cela confirme le rôle positif de WO3 dans la séparation de charges.Les dépôts Fe2O3-TiO2 préparés par imprégnation humide présentent une activité supérieure avec la lampe blanche comparant à la lampe UV (de 1 à 2% molaire de Fe2O3), l’effet positif de l’introduction du fer a également été observé avec la méthode sol gel. Le Fer sous sa forme ionique peut jouer un rôle positif dans le piégeage de charges, mais il peut former des phases allotropiques qui peuvent être des centres de recombinaison / The role of WO3 and Fe2O3 in enhancing the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 deposits has been investigated through the oxidation of salicylic acid using UV and vis-light irradiation. Different procedures of semiconductor loading (wet impregnation/mixing semiconductors in solid form/sol gel) and deposition were undertaken. Also different substrates were tested (ordinary glass, ITO).UV-Vis spectrophotometry (without/with Integrating sphere), X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical characterization were done in order to better understand the behavior and the effective role of loaded semiconductors.Promising results were found for catalysts prepared by wet impregnation and mixing in solid form methods (WO3-loading): the bang gap energy decreased, activity under visible light increased consequently (at 2.5 % molar -WO3) for the first case. 30% improvement under UV (0.5 % -WO3) was reached for the second. Sol gel method enhances coverage on the glass substrate, it seems to be an appropriate method to ensure good contact between semiconductors and reach the charge separation desired effect. Enhanced photocurrent on the ITO substrate confirms the positive role of WO3 in charge separation, in coherence with open circuit potential which was found to be reduced with 4 % WO3 loading. Fe2O3-TiO2 coatings prepared by wet impregnation exhibit higher activity with white lamp comparing to UV lamp (loading from 1 to 2 % Fe2O3), also positive effect of iron introduction was observed with sol gel method. Iron under his ionic form can play positive role in trapping charge, but it can form allotropic phases which can be centers of recombination.Key words: TiO2; WO3; Fe2O3; band gap; salicylic acid; photocatalysis; sol gel

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