LITHIUM BATTERY HAVING LOW LEAKAGE ANODE

• US 20140106203A1
• Filed: 10/15/2012
• Published: 04/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KLA Corporation
• Original Assignee: Jiuh-Ming Liang, Tung-Hsiu Shih, Victor Krasnov
• Inventors: SHIH, Tung-Hsiu, NIEH, Kai Wei, KRASNOV, Victor, LIANG, Jiuh-Ming
• Granted Patent: US 9,356,320 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 429/162
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0436 Small-sized flat cells or batteries for portable equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/052 Li-accumulators
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/058 Construction or manufacture
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0585 of accumulators having only flat construction elements, i.e. flat positive electrodes, flat negative electrodes and flat separators
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2010/4292 Aspects relating to capacity ratio of electrodes/electrolyte or anode/cathode
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/0407 by coating on an electrolyte layer
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/0426 Sputtering
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/13 Electrodes for accumulators with non-aqueous electrolyte, e.g. for lithium-accumulators; Processes of manufacture thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/139 Processes of manufacture
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

Abstract

A lithium battery comprises a support, and a plurality of battery component layers on the support, the battery component layers including a cathode having a cathode area with a plurality of cathode perimeter edges. An electrolyte is on the cathode, and an anode is on the electrolyte. The anode comprises an anode area with a plurality of anode perimeter edges, each anode perimeter edge having a corresponding cathode perimeter edge that lies adjacent to and below the anode perimeter edge. The anode area is sized so that at least one anode perimeter edge is terminated before its corresponding cathode perimeter edge to define a gap between the anode perimeter edge and the corresponding cathode perimeter edge, the gap having a gap distance G.

Claims

1. A lithium battery comprising:

(a) a support;

(b) a plurality of battery component layers on the support, the battery component layers including a cathode having a cathode area with a plurality of cathode perimeter edges;

(c) an electrolyte on the cathode;

(d) an anode on the electrolyte, the anode having an anode area bounded by a plurality of anode perimeter edges, each anode perimeter edge having a corresponding cathode perimeter edge that lies adjacent to and below the anode perimeter edge, and the anode area being sized so that at least one anode perimeter edge is terminated before its corresponding cathode perimeter edge to define a gap between the anode perimeter edge and the corresponding cathode perimeter edge, the gap having a gap distance G.

2. A battery according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of the anode perimeter edges are terminated before each of their corresponding cathode perimeter edges, and wherein each anode perimeter edges is spaced apart from its corresponding cathode perimeter edge by the gap distance G.

3. A battery according to claim 1 wherein G is at least 10 microns.

4. A battery according to claim 1 wherein G is from about 50 to about 1000 microns.

5. A battery according to claim 1 further comprising an anode perimeter edge that extends over its corresponding cathode perimeter edge to electrically couple to an anode contact bridge.

6. A lithium battery manufacturing method comprising:

(a) forming a plurality of battery component layers on a support, the battery component layers including a cathode having a cathode area with a plurality of cathode perimeter edges, and an electrolyte on the cathode; and

(b) forming an anode on the electrolyte, by;

(i) fabricating a mask having mask perimeter edges that are capable of defining an anode area having a plurality of anode perimeter edges each of which have a corresponding cathode perimeter edge that lies adjacent to and immediately below the anode perimeter edge, the mask being sized so that at least one mask perimeter edge is positioned to define an anode perimeter edge that terminates before its corresponding cathode perimeter edge to provide a gap between the anode perimeter edge and the corresponding cathode perimeter edge, the gap having a gap distance G;

(ii) placing the mask between the substrate and a sputtering target comprising anode material; and

(iii) sputtering the sputtering target through the mask to form an anode having the anode perimeter edges on the electrolyte.

7. A method according to claim 6 wherein (b) (i) comprises fabricating the mask so that a plurality of the mask perimeter edges are positioned to generate anode perimeter edges that terminate before each of their corresponding cathode perimeter edges to define a gap between the anode perimeter edge and the corresponding cathode perimeter edge, the gap having a gap distance G.

8. A battery according to claim 7 wherein G is at least 20 microns.

9. A lithium battery comprising:

(a) a support;

(b) a plurality of battery component layers on the support, the battery component layers including a cathode and an overlying electrolyte, the electrolyte having a plurality of electrolyte perimeter edges;

(c) an anode on the electrolyte, the anode having a plurality of anode perimeter edges that include a first anode perimeter edge which terminates before a corresponding first electrolyte perimeter edge that is adjacent to the first anode perimeter edge; and

(d) an over-edge anode dielectric covering and directly on the first anode perimeter edge.

10. A battery according to claim 9 wherein the over-edge anode dielectric also covers and is directly on the corresponding first electrolyte perimeter edge.

11. A battery according to claim 10 wherein the electrolyte comprises a electrolyte sidewall adjacent to the first electrolyte perimeter edge, and wherein the over-edge anode dielectric covers the electrolyte sidewall.

12. A battery according to claim 11 wherein the over-edge anode dielectric covers a plurality of the anode perimeter edges.

13. A battery according to claim 9 wherein the over-edge anode dielectric comprises a metal oxide, metal nitride, solid state electrolyte or polymer.

14. A battery according to claim 13 wherein the polymer comprises polyvinyldichloride, polyurethane, parylene or epoxy.

15. A battery according to claim 9 wherein the over-edge anode dielectric comprises a thickness of less than 100 microns.

16. A battery according to claim 9 wherein the over-edge anode dielectric comprises a Young'"'"'s modulus of at least 2 MPa.