Constitution, microstructure, and battery performance of magnetron sputtered Li–Co–O thin film cathodes for lithium-ion batteries as a function of the working gas pressure

Abstract Li–Co–O thin film cathodes have been deposited onto Si and stainless steel substrates by RF magnetron sputtering from a ceramic LiCoO 2 target at various working gas pressures from 0.15 to 25 Pa. Composition, crystal structure and thin film morphology were examined and properties such as intrinsic stress, conductivity and film density were determined. As-deposited films at 0.15 Pa as well as in the range between 5 Pa and 10 Pa working gas pressure showed a nanocrystalline metastable rocksalt structure with disordered cation arrangement and were nearly stoichiometric. To induce a cation ordering the films were annealed in a furnace at temperatures between 100 and 600 °C for 3 h in argon/oxygen atmosphere (Ar:O 2  = 4.5:5) of 10 Pa. This cation ordering process was observed by XRD and Raman spectroscopy. For the films deposited at 10 Pa gas pressure an annealing temperature of 600 °C leads to the formation of the high temperature phase HT-LiCoO 2 with a layered structure. The Raman spectrum of the films deposited at 0.15 Pa and annealed at 400 °C indicates the formation of the low temperature phase LT-LiCoO 2 with a cubic spinel-related structure, which is assumed to be stabilized due to high compressive stress in the film. The electrochemical characterisation of annealed thin film cathodes revealed that the discharge capacity strongly depends on the crystal structure. Thin Li–Co–O films with a perfect layered HT-LiCoO 2 structure showed the highest discharge capacities.