Article are made from silicon oxide and electrically conductive doped silicon materials that are joined in a protective environment to yield a composite SiO.sub.x:Si material that exhibits the properties of SiO.sub.x and yet is electrically conductive due to the presence of the Si. Articles from such composite materials find many uses, such as for targets for DC and/or AC sputtering processes to produce silicon oxide thin films for touch-screen application, barrier thin films in LCD displays and optical thin films used in a wide variety of applications.