Method for fabricating solid-state thin film batteries

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9728813-B2
Application number	US-201615146714-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 4, 2016
Priority date	May 5, 2015
Publication date	Aug 8, 2017
Grant date	Aug 8, 2017

Abstract

A method is provided for fabricating a thin film solid-state Li-ion battery comprising a first electrode layer, a solid electrolyte layer, and a second electrode layer. The method comprises depositing, on a substrate, an initial layer stack comprising a first layer comprising a first electrode material compound, and a second layer comprising an electrolyte material compound; and afterwards performing a lithiation step comprising incorporating Li in the first layer and in the second layer, thereby forming a stack of a first electrode layer and a solid electrolyte layer. The initial layer stack may further comprise a third layer comprising a second electrode material compound. By performing the lithiation step, Li is also incorporated in the third layer, such that a stack of a first electrode layer, a solid electrolyte layer, and a second electrode layer is formed. One or more of the first, second, or third layers may be Li-free.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for fabricating a thin film solid-state Li-ion battery comprising a first electrode layer, a solid electrolyte layer, and a second electrode layer, the method comprising:
depositing an initial layer stack on a substrate, wherein the initial layer stack comprises a first Li-free layer comprising a first electrode material compound, and a second Li-free layer comprising an electrolyte material compound; and
after depositing the initial layer stack, performing a lithiation step, the lithiation step comprising forming a Li-compound layer on the initial layer stack or between the first and second layers to incorporate Li in the first layer and in the second layer, thereby forming a stack of a first electrode layer and a solid electrolyte layer.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the initial layer stack further comprises a third layer comprising a second electrode material compound, and wherein performing the lithiation step further comprises incorporating Li in the third layer, thereby forming a stack of a first electrode layer, a solid electrolyte layer, and a second electrode layer.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the lithiation step comprises:
depositing the layer comprising a Li compound on the initial layer stack; and
after depositing the layer comprising the Li compound, performing a thermal treatment, thereby inducing a solid-state reaction between the Li compound and the material compounds of the Li-free layers of the initial layer stack.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the layer comprising the Li compound is a Li 2 O layer or a Li 2 CO 3 layer.

5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein depositing the layer comprising the Li compound comprises providing the layer by solution processing.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a current collector.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a non-planar substrate.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the substrate comprises a plurality of micro-pillars.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the initial layer stack comprises a layer comprising the Li compound between the first layer and the second layer.

10. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the initial layer stack comprises a layer comprising the Li compound between the second layer and the third layer.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein depositing the initial stack on the substrate utilizes a deposition technique including one or more of electrochemical deposition, spin coating, atomic layer deposition, or sputtering.

12. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the solution processing includes spin coating.

Assignees

• Imec Vzw
• Univ Leuven Kath

Inventors

• Labyedh Nouha
• Marquez Alfonso Sepulveda
• Vereecken Philippe

Classifications

• H01M10/0525

  Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries · CPC title

• H01M2300/0071

  Oxides · CPC title

• H01M4/485

  of mixed oxides or hydroxides for inserting or intercalating light metals, e.g. LiTi2O4 or LiTi2OxFy (H01M4/505, H01M4/525 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01M4/70

  characterised by shape or form · CPC title

• H01M10/0436

  Small-sized flat cells or batteries for portable equipment · CPC title