Applied Materials, Inc.

Daoying Song

Bruce E Adams

Byung-Sung Kwak

Chong Jiang

Joseph Grover Gordon, Ii

Theodore P Moffitt

Byung-sung Leo Kwak

Leo B Kwak

Microwave radiation may be applied to electrochemical devices for rapid thermal processing (RTP) (including annealing, crystallizing, densifying, forming, etc.) of individual layers of the electrochemical devices, as well as device stacks, including bulk and thin film batteries and thin film electrochromic devices. A method of manufacturing an electrochemical device may comprise: depositing a layer of the electrochemical device over a substrate; and microwave annealing the layer, wherein the microwave annealing includes selecting annealing conditions with preferential microwave energy absorption in the layer. An apparatus for forming an electrochemical device may comprise: a first system to deposit an electrochemical device layer over a substrate; and a second system to microwave anneal the layer, wherein the second system is configured to provide preferential microwave energy absorption in the device layer.

Microwave rapid thermal processing of electrochemical devices

A method of fabricating a thin film battery may comprise: depositing a first stack of blanket layers on a substrate, the first stack comprising a cathode current collector, a cathode, an electrolyte, an anode and an anode current collector; laser die patterning the first stack to form one or more second stacks, each second stack forming the core of a separate thin film battery; blanket depositing an encapsulation layer over the one or more second stacks; laser patterning the encapsulation layer to open up contact areas to the anode current collectors on each of the one or more second stacks; blanket depositing a metal pad layer over the encapsulation layer and the contact areas; and laser patterning the metal pad layer to electrically isolate the anode current collectors of each of the one or more thin film batteries. For electrically non-conductive substrates, cathode contact areas are opened-up through the substrate.

Mask-less fabrication of vertical thin film batteries

Selective removal of specified layers of thin film structures and devices, such as solar cells, electrochromics, and thin film batteries, by laser direct patterning is achieved by including heat and light blocking layers in the device/structure stack immediately adjacent to the specified layers which are to be removed by laser ablation. The light blocking layer is a layer of metal that absorbs or reflects a portion of the laser energy penetrating through the dielectric/semiconductor layers and the heat blocking layer is a conductive layer with thermal diffusivity low enough to reduce heat flow into underlying metal layer(s), such that the temperature of the underlying metal layer(s) does not reach the melting temperature, T, or in some embodiments does not reach (T)/3, of the underlying metal layer(s) during laser direct patterning.

Thin film structures and devices with integrated light and heat blocking layers for laser patterning

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Daoying Song