Laser materials processing for micropower source applications: a review

Abstract

This paper reviews recent work on the fabrication of energy storage and power generation using laser-based processes such as pulsed laser deposition (PLD), laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT), and laser surface processing techniques. PLD is a versatile technique for depositing high-quality layers of materials for cathodes, anodes, and solid electrolytes for thin-film microbatteries. Using sequential PLD processes, solid-state thin-film lithium-ion microbatteries can be successfully fabricated. LIFT is a powerful tool for printing complex materials with highly porous structures for the fabrication of micropower sources such as thick-film batteries and metal oxide-based solar cells. In particular, using the LIFT process it is possible to print thick layers (∼100 μm) while maintaining pattern integrity and low-internal resistance. As a consequence, power sources fabricated in this manner exhibit higher energy densities per unit area than those obtained by traditional thin-film growth techniques. In addition, the printed active materials can be modified by postlaser processes, such as laser sintering and laser structuring, to further improve the device performance by enhancing the electrodes' three-dimensional networked structure and increasing the overall active surface, respectively. This review will discuss various examples where laser materials' processing has led to new approaches in the development of micropower sources applications. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

Laser‐Induced Forward Transfer: Fundamentals and Applications

“…This means that LIFT can be used to print suspensions with a wide range of medium (≈0.01 Pa s) to very high (>100 Pa s) viscosities (designed for applications such as screen printing or stenciling) and do so with higher voxel resolution than these techniques can achieve . Furthermore, by using higher viscosity suspensions, the size range of laser transferable particles is significantly broadened from nanometers to tens of micrometers . The ability to print high‐viscosity suspensions allows LIFT to be used to print commercially available screen printable pastes, as well as custom prepared and highly inhomogeneous mixtures of various materials in solid form with polymer binders suspended in an organic electrolyte as those found in Li‐ion battery electrodes …”

“…These porous structures are very important features for electrochemical devices due to an increased contact area between the electrodes and the electrolyte, leading to improved charge transfer and accordingly a more complete utilization of the electrode materials. Thus, the LIFT technique can be used to print fully functional electrodes for microscale energy storage systems, such as ultracapacitors and microbatteries . LIFT can also be used to print energy harvesting structures such as photovoltaics and thermoelectric junctions …”

“…Thus, the LIFT technique can be used to print fully functional electrodes for microscale energy storage systems, such as ultracapacitors and microbatteries . LIFT can also be used to print energy harvesting structures such as photovoltaics and thermoelectric junctions …”

“…The LIFT technique has been successfully employed to print thick‐film electrodes for both alkaline and Li‐ion microbatteries with much higher capacities per electrode area than those made by sputter‐deposited thin‐film electrodes . The intrinsically porous structures produced by LIFT facilitate the diffusion of ions across the electrodes with minimum loss due to internal resistance.…”

Laser-Induced Forward Transfer Applications in Micro-engineering

“…However, as the fluence is increased, the differences between ps and ns transfers vanish (Mikšys et al 2019). Overall, many applications have been reported for printing various classes of functional materials including nanoinks for microelectronics fabrication (Piqué et al 2013b;Zenou et al 2013), organic molecules for sensor elements (Boutopoulos et al 2008;Chatzipetrou et al 2013), suspensions of electrode materials for batteries (Pröll et al 2014;Kim et al 2014), and biomaterials such as protein solutions or cell cultures (Schiele et al 2010;Ringeisen et al 2013).…”