Atomic layer deposition of LixTiyOz thin films
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) was employed to deposit ternary films of LixTiyOz. The film growth at a deposition temperature of 225 °C was studied using both titanium tetra-isoropoxide (Ti(OiPr)4) and titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) as titanium precursors. Lithium tert-butoxide (LiOtBu) was applied as the lithium source and water was used as the oxygen source for all metal precursors. The type of titanium precursor chosen strongly affected film growth: with TiCl4 the resulting LixTiyOz films were highly air-sensitive and the lithium concentration was low, whereas with Ti(OiPr)4 the films were relatively stable in air and with a lithium content which was easily controlled over a wide range. F…
Atomic layer deposition of ferroelectric LiNbO3
The ferroelectric and electro-optical properties of LiNbO3 make it an important material for current and future applications. It has also been suggested as a possible lead-free replacement for present PZT-devices. The atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique offers controlled deposition of films at an industrial scale and thus becomes an interesting tool for growth of LiNbO3. We here report on ALD deposition of LiNbO3 using lithium silylamide and niobium ethoxide as precursors, thereby providing good control of cation stoichiometry and films with low impurity levels of silicon. The deposited films are shown to be ferroelectric and their crystalline orientations can be guided by the choice of…
Atomic layer deposition of lithium containing thin films
Five different lithium containing compounds, all representing different chemical systems, were studied in order to deposit lithium containing films by atomic layer deposition ALD. The studied compounds were a lithium β-diketonate Li(thd) (thd = 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate), a lithium alkoxide LiOtBu (OtBu = tert-butoxide), a lithium cyclopentadienyl LiCp (Cp = cyclopentadienyl), a lithium alkyl n-butyllithium, and a lithium amide lithium dicyclohexylamide. Films containing lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) were obtained from alternate pulsing of Li(thd) and ozone in a temperature range of 185–300 °C. The film composition was analyzed by time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (…
Atomic Layer Deposition of Spinel Lithium Manganese Oxide by Film-Body-Controlled Lithium Incorporation for Thin-Film Lithium-Ion Batteries
Lithium manganese oxide spinels are promising candidate materials for thin-film lithium-ion batteries owing to their high voltage, high specific capacity for storage of electrochemical energy, and minimal structural changes during battery operation. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) offers many benefits for preparing all-solid-state thin-film batteries, including excellent conformity and thickness control of the films. Yet, the number of available lithium-containing electrode materials obtained by ALD is limited. In this article, we demonstrate the ALD of lithium manganese oxide, LixMn2O4, from Mn(thd)3, Li(thd), and ozone. Films were polycrystalline in their as-deposited state and contained le…