LiMn2O4 is a promising candidate for a cathode
material in lithium-ion batteries because of its ability to intercalate
lithium ions reversibly through its three-dimensional manganese oxide
network. One of the promising techniques for depositing LiMn2O4 thin-film cathodes is atomic layer deposition (ALD).
Because of its unparalleled film thickness control and film conformality,
ALD helps to fulfill the industry demands for smaller devices, nanostructured
electrodes, and all-solid-state batteries. In this work, the intercalation
mechanism of Li+ ions into an ALD-grown β-MnO2 thin film was studied. Samples were prepared by pulsing LiO
t
Bu and H2O for different cycle
numbers onto about 100 nm thick MnO2 films at 225 °C
and characterized with X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction,
X-ray reflectivity, time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis,
and residual stress measurements. It is proposed that for <100
cycles of LiO
t
Bu/H2O, the Li+ ions penetrate only to the surface region of the β-MnO2 film, and the samples form a mixture of β-MnO2 and a lithium-deficient nonstoichiometric spinel phase Li
x
Mn2O4 (0 < x < 0.5). When the lithium concentration exceeds x ≈ 0.5 in Li
x
Mn2O4 (corresponding to 100 cycles of LiO
t
Bu/H2O), the crystalline phase of manganese oxide
changes from the tetragonal pyrolusite to the cubic spinel, which
enables the Li+ ions to migrate throughout the whole film.
Annealing in N2 at 600 °C after the lithium incorporation
seemed to convert the films completely to the pure cubic spinel LiMn2O4.