Thin film rechargeable lithium battery

The Department of Energy’s ‘Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed high-performance thin-film lithium batteries for a variety of technological applications. These batteries have high energy densities, can be recharged thousands of times, and are only 10 microns thick. They can be made in essentially any size and shape. Recently, Teledyne licensed this technology from ORNL to make batteries for medical devices including electrocardiographs. In addition, new "textured" cathodes have been developed which have greatly increased the peak current capability of the batteries. This greatly expands the potential medical uses of the batteries, including transdermal applications for heart regulation.’ [cite web|url=http://www.osti.gov/accomplishments/thinfilm.html|title=Thin-Film Lithium Batteries|publisher=U.S. Department of Energy|accessdate=2008-09-16]

Thin-film Rechargeable Lithium Batteries for Implantable Devices

Thin films of LiCoO{sub 2} have been synthesized in which the strongest x ray reflection is either weak or missing, indicating a high degree of preferred orientation. Thin film solid state batteries with these textured cathode films can deliver practical capacities at high current densities. For example, for one of the cells 70% of the maximum capacity between 4.2 V and 3 V ({approximately}0.2 mAh/cm{sup 2}) was delivered at a current of 2 mA/cm{sup 2}. When cycled at rates of 0.1 mA/cm{sup 2}, the capacity loss was 0.001%/cycle or less. The reliability and performance of Li LiCoO{sub 2} thin film batteries make them attractive for application in implantable devices such as neural stimulators, pacemakers, and defibrillators.

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