DEVELOPMENT OF THIN FILM OF LiCoO 2 FOR MICRO BATTERY ELECTRODE BY USING DC SPUTTERING TECHNIQUE

Abstract

In this study, the development of thin film for electrode utilizing the crystalline LiCoO 2 by using DC sputtering technique has been done. The goal was to understand the characteristics of LiCoO 2 as a candidate material to be used as cathode for a thin film lithium based micro battery. During the sputtering process, a pelletized LiCoO 2 that contained approximately 5 %w/w Poly Vinyledene Fluoride (PVDF) binder was used. The LiCoO 2 was deposited on silicone as target substrate. The sputtering result was characterized first by an optical microscope, followed by more detail analysis by using Scanning Electron Microscope coupled with EDS (SEM/EDS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) techniques. The results showed that the thin film of LiCoO 2 was deposited on the silicon substrate at 4 µm thickness when the sputtering was carried out at 0.225 Torr pressure, 20 mA current for 6 hours. Based on the AFM studies, however, the thin film was not deposited evenly on the surface. The contour of the surface still contained substantial presence of hills and valleys. Improvement on this matter is still required to optimize the outcome. Keywords: Sputtering, Thin film, Micro battery, Lithium battery, LiCoO 2 .