Applicable to integrated circuit on-chip micro-battery to create 3D holographic lithography technology

On-chip microbattery for integrated circuits

3D holographic lithography technology is expected to miniaturize a variety of devices

Only fingertip-sized microbatteries

By combining 3D holographic lithography and 2D lithography, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a high-performance 3D microbattery for large-scale integrated circuits. Researchers say that this miniature high-energy battery has excellent performance and scalability, providing people with unlimited imagination, and it is expected that many devices will become a reality. Related papers were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Paul Braun, a professor of materials and engineering at the University of Illinois, who is responsible for the research, said that because small-scale energy storage technology has always been a problem, micro-devices are often powered by off-chip batteries or power supplies. The difficulty lies mainly in the 3D electrode, which is very complicated and difficult to implement on an ordinary battery, not to mention the on-chip integration. New technologies have successfully broken through the difficulties and made many important applications possible.

The first author of the paper, Ning Hailong, a graduate student at the School of Materials and Engineering at the University of Illinois, said that they have developed a miniature 3D lithium-ion battery using a technology that is highly compatible with existing microelectronics manufacturing. In the fabrication of the electrodes, they first used 3D holographic lithography to define the internal structure of the electrode, and then used 2D lithography to shape the external shape of the electrode. With 3D holographic lithography, the researchers created a perfect three-dimensional structure through the beam, which allows the micro-cell to obtain a porous electrode with excellent performance, which helps the rapid conduction of electrons and ions inside the battery.

The significant advantage of this method is that it allows people to flexibly adjust the parameters closely related to battery energy and power, such as electrode size, shape, surface area, porosity and bending state. This paved the way for the design and manufacture of next-generation chip energy storage devices.

Although 3D holographic lithography requires very precise control of the beam, recent advances in technology have drastically reduced the optics required for the entire process, requiring only a single beam and a standard lithography process to meet this manufacturing requirement. The need for micro batteries.

John Rogers, a professor of materials engineering at the University of Illinois, said the technology gives the battery a high degree of scalability and compatibility in microelectronics manufacturing. Combined with high-energy materials such as tin, it also offers exciting new features, including high capacity and good cycle life, which provide a safe and reliable source of energy for on-chip devices.

Braun said that this miniaturized, high-energy and high-power on-chip battery will allow for the development of autonomous microscale actuators, distributed wireless sensors, transmitters, monitors, and portable, implantable medical devices.