Development and Performance of A Rechargeable Thin Film Solid State Microbattery

The fabrication of thin-film batteries has been achieved for more than a decade ( Energizer 1 , Oak Ridge 2 , Seoul National Univ. 3 ). The inventor of the process was K. Kanehori (under ref.1) The processes utilized; sputtering, vapor deposition, solvent coating of electrolyte, have succeeded in laboratory trials in making working cells. No large commercial process nor application has developed to date though pilot plant capability exists 4 . Performance characteristics of microbatteries are sufficient to easily power micro-sensors and CMOS microelectronics. On chip carrier power capability could be realized. The materials of today’s microbattery are detrimental to silicon technology which can be a draw back to commercialization. New materials and processes need to be investigated.