Effect of post-annealing on the electrical conductivity of spark plasma sintered antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) ceramics

High-density antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) ceramics are prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS). In order to enhance the electrical conductivity of the ATO ceramics, a post-annealing process at 800 degrees C for 100 h in air was carried out. The results suggest that post-annealing is effective in increasing the carrier concentration and Hall mobility, which ultimately control the electrical conductivity. The electrical resistivity is reduced by approximately two orders of magnitude, to a value of 5.68 x 10(-3) Omega cm. (c) 2012 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.