Electrically conducting glasses produced by ion exchange and hydrogen treatments

Electrically conducting layers have been induced in some alkali-containing silicate glasses by subjecting them to a Na⁺?Ag⁺ ion-exchange reaction followed by a reduction treatment in hydrogen. The surface resistances of the ion-exchanged and reduced glasses range from 0.15ohm/square to 4.1 ohm/square depending on the glass composition. Most of the layers give TCR values around 2000 ppm/K. The microstructural studies of the ion-exchanged and reduced layers confirm that such high surface conductances arise due to the formation of continuous chains of metallic silver and bismuth droplets in a glass matrix.