Method of lowering resistivity of metal oxide semiconductor powder

摘要

The resistivity of an n-type metal oxide semiconductor such as SnO2, In2O3 or ZnO is lowered by treating the metal oxide with a metal halide such as SnX2 or SbX3, in which the oxidation number of the metal is smaller than the largest oxidation number the metal can take, so as to allow the metal oxide to generally uniformly come into contact with the metal halide. The treatment can be done at room temperature by, for example, the use of a solution of the metal halide and does not cause discoloration of the treated metal oxide. This process is applicable also to a conductive material comprising as its essential component at least one n-type metal oxide semiconductor.