Fe2O3 doped silica films were deposited using a reactive cosputtering approach where the power applied to the Fe cathode was systematically varied from 20 to 80 W to change the Fe2O3 content, while SiO2 was deposited with a constant power of 100 W applied to the Si target. As a result of increases in Fe cathode power, from 20 to 80 W, the fraction of Fe2O3 relative to SiO2 was shown to increase from 0.01 to 0.15, as measured via x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XPS analysis was also used to analyze the valence states of the compounds present in the films, confirming the presence of both Fe2O3 (Fe3+) cations alongside SiO2 (Si4+). The observed increases in Fe2O3 content were associated with a rise in refractive index values from n589 = 1.48 to n589 = 1.72, while the extinction coefficient, k589 remained below 0.01. Films deposited using the methods outlined within this work demonstrate Eg values ranging from highly transparent at above 3.5 eV, down to 1.52 eV, within the range for devices requiring efficient absorption of solar energy.