This article involves microwave (MW) absorption characteristic investigation of surface fluorinated iron oxide, synthesized via the hydrothermal method and compared with pristine alpha -Fe2O3. The MW absorption characteristics are studied by measuring real and imaginary parts of both permittivity ( varepsilon ) and permeability ( mu ) for pristine alpha -Fe2O3 and surface fluorinated Fe2O3 in the frequency range of 5.85-18 GHz. The imaginary part of permeability ( {mu }{mathrm {r}}{''} ) and the magnetic loss tangent value ( {tan} {delta }{ {mu }} ) of surface fluorinated Fe2O3 are found to be superior to pristine alpha -Fe2O3. The maximum reflection loss (RL) in surface fluorinated Fe2O3 is observed at different frequencies as a function of sample's thickness, for example, RLs -18 dB at 7.5 GHz ( t = 3.5 mm) and -12 dB at 9 GHz ( t = 3 mm), respectively. These characteristics make this material a potential candidate as radar absorbing material (RAM) both in C -band and X -band. For the first time, the MW absorption characteristics of fluorinated alpha -Fe2O3 have been demonstrated, which are the novel study in itself. © 1965-2012 IEEE.