AVS 63rd International Symposium & Exhibition
    Electronic Materials and Photonics Thursday Sessions
       Session EM+SS+TF-ThA

Paper EM+SS+TF-ThA2
Probing Li-Ion Transport in All-Solid-State Batteries through Electron Transparent Electrodes

Thursday, November 10, 2016, 2:40 pm, Room 102A

Session: Materials and Interfaces for Energy Storage
Presenter: Alexander Yulaev, Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
Authors: A. Yulaev, Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
A.A. Talin, Sandia National Laboratories
M.S. Leite, University of Maryland
A. Kolmakov, NIST/CNST
Correspondent: Click to Email
All-solid-state batteries demonstrate a high power-to-weight ratio and high energy density, offering prospective opportunities for miniaturized micro-electronics and medical devices. Moreover, solid state batteries reduce the safety risk of thermal runaway that may occur in electrochemical cells with liquid electrolytes. In spite of growing interests, the details of lithium transport in solid electrolytes and their interfaces are not yet well understood due to a scarcity of experimental methods to probe electrochemical processes at the nanoscale. For instance, the factors controlling the rate and reversibility of Li ion intercalation are still an active area of research. Here we apply a combination of optical and scanning electron microscopies to resolve spatially Li-ion transport across a thin LiPON electrolyte. Using lithographically patterned electrodes, we monitor Li-ion transport through optically and electron transparent ultrathin anodes made either of high capacity silicon or carbon. The variation of the probing depth is achieved by altering the energy of the primary electron beam from 1 keV to 15 keV. Analogous to SEM tomography, the sequence of depth dependent 2D images can be employed to reconstruct the 3D diffusion pathways of Li ions in the electrolyte. In addition, we investigate Li plating/intercalation reactions, which occur at the anode-electrolyte interface during charge/discharge cycles. We foresee that this approach will help elucidate the effects of chemical and ion transport inhomogeneity inside the electrolyte and electrodes on the overall performance of the battery.