Method of forming a homogeneous solid metallic anode for a thin film microbattery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10622590-B2
Application number	US-201816117892-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 30, 2018
Priority date	Apr 8, 2014
Publication date	Apr 14, 2020
Grant date	Apr 14, 2020

Abstract

A method of providing an anode composed of a homogeneous solid metallic alloy is provided. The alloy includes 100 ppm to 1000 ppm Bi, 100 ppm to 1000 ppm In, and Zn. The method includes fabricating a cathode in a first cavity in a first dielectric element. The method further includes fabricating an anode in a second cavity in a second dielectric element. The method further includes joining the cathode and the anode in a complanate manner.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for forming a battery, the method comprising:
fabricating a cathode in a first cavity in a first dielectric element;
fabricating an anode in a second cavity in a second dielectric element, wherein the anode is composed of a homogeneous solid metallic alloy consisting of 100 ppm to 1000 ppm Bi, 100 ppm to 1000 ppm In, and Zn, wherein the fabricating of the anode comprises forming a seed layer, electroplating, in any order, a layer of Bi, a layer of In, and a layer of Zn on a surface of the seed layer, and annealing the layer of Bi, the layer of In, and the layer of Zn to provide the homogeneous solid metallic alloy; and
joining the cathode and the anode in a complanate manner.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fabricating of the cathode comprises the use of no more than two lithographic masks.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fabricating of the anode comprises the use of no more than three lithographic masks.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fabricating of the anode comprises depositing an electrolyte separator material into the second cavity.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a concentration of In is in a range of 100 ppm to 500 ppm and a concentration of Bi is in a range of 100 ppm to 500 ppm.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the homogeneous solid metallic alloy has a resistivity in a range of about 5×10 −8 to 6×10 −8 ohm-m.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the anode has a thickness from 1 micron to 50 microns.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cathode comprises one or more of NiOOH and MnO 2 .

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fabricating of the cathode comprises:
etching the first cavity in the first dielectric element;
depositing an adhesion metal layer in the first cavity;
depositing a layer of transparent conductive oxide on the adhesion metal layer;
depositing a patterned photoresist on the layer of transparent conductive oxide and a topmost surface of the first dielectric element;
patterning the layer of transparent conductive oxide and the layer of transparent conductive oxide using the patterned photoresist as a mask;
stripping the patterned photoresist; and
inserting a cathode material in the first cavity.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the transparent conducting oxide comprises indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO), Ga-doped zinc oxide (GZO) or mixtures thereof.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising cutting the co-joined cathode and anode.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the joining of the cathode and the anode comprises a bonding process.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the homogeneous solid metallic alloy has a percentage of a volume of voids that is less than 0.01%.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the homogeneous solid metallic alloy has no porosity.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming an adhesion metal layer in the second cavity prior to the forming of the seed layer.

16. A method for forming a battery, the method comprising:
fabricating a cathode in a first cavity in a first dielectric element;
fabricating an anode in a second cavity in a second dielectric element, wherein the anode is composed of a homogeneous solid metallic alloy consisting of 100 ppm to 1000 ppm Bi, 100 ppm to 1000 ppm In, and Zn, and
joining the cathode and the anode in a complanate manner, wherein the fabricating of the cathode comprises:
etching the first cavity in the first dielectric element;
depositing an adhesion metal layer in the first cavity;
depositing a layer of transparent conductive oxide on the adhesion metal layer;
depositing a patterned photoresist on the layer of transparent conductive oxide and a topmost surface of the first dielectric element;
patterning the layer of transparent conductive oxide and the layer of transparent conductive oxide using the patterned photoresist as a mask; stripping the patterned photoresist; and inserting a cathode material in the first cavity.

17. A method for forming a battery, the method comprising:
fabricating a cathode in a first cavity in a first dielectric element;
fabricating an anode in a second cavity in a second dielectric element, wherein the anode is composed of a homogeneous solid metallic alloy consisting of 100 ppm to 1000 ppm Bi, 100 ppm to 1000 ppm in, and Zn, and
joining the cathode and the anode in a complanate manner, wherein the fabricating of the anode comprises:
etching the second cavity in the second dielectric element;
depositing an adhesion metal layer in the second cavity;
depositing a layer of seed metal on the adhesion metal layer; and
electroplating the homogeneous solid metallic alloy on the layer of seed metal.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Andry Paul S
• Fritz Gregory M
• Gordon Michael S
• Lewandowski Eric P
• Luo Yu

Classifications

• C25D1/04

  Wires; Strips; Foils · CPC title

• C25D1/22

  Separating compounds · CPC title

• C25D5/50

  by heat-treatment · CPC title

• Y10T29/49108

  Electric battery cell making · CPC title

• G02C7/083

  Electrooptic lenses · CPC title