In this paper, a fast annealing process with the atmospheric pressure plasma to prepare the Mg-doped CuCrO2 thin films is reported. The sol-gel derived thin filmswere deposited on quartz substrates and then annealed at 500 degrees C in air following the atmospheric pressure plasma with N-2-(0-30%)O-2. The single CuCrO2 phase was formed after the atmospheric pressure plasma annealing between N-2-3%O-2 and N-2-10%O-2. The chemical states of Cu and Cr cations in Mg-doped CuCrO2 thin films were monovalent and trivalent, which were deduced from the binding energies of the Cu-2p(3/2) and the Cr-2p(3/2) spectrum at 932.3-932.5 eV and 576.0-576.2 eV, respectively. Optical bandgaps of Mg-doped CuCrO2 thin films were 2.78-3.03 eV. Moreover, electrical conductivities and carrier concentrations of Mg-doped CuCrO2 thin filmswere 0.47-0.58 Scm(-1) and 4.8 x 10(16)-3.5 x 10(17) cm-3. Additionally, the activation energy of the carrier conduction in the Mg-doped CuCrO2 thin films was 80 meV. Hence, a fast annealing process using the atmospheric pressure plasma can provide an effective tool and a feasible method for preparing transparent conductive thin films. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.