Study of CuO thin film for high-capacity positive electrode surface : Application to lithium microbatteries
The miniaturization of electronic components and their increasing number of functionalities induce a great interest for energy microsources such as thin films batteries. There are mainly developed for secondary systems, even if primary systems are also convenient for some applications. Currently, the main limitation is their specific capacity which does not exceed 200 µAh.cm 2.µm 1. In order to get a system having a high surfacic capacity, we focused on CuO, which react with lithium according to a conversion mechanism and exhibit a large theoretical capacity (425 µAh .cm-2.µm-1). CuO thin films were prepared by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering in a reactive mixture (Ar + O2). The influence of some deposition parameters (oxygen concentration, total pressure, substrate-target distance, the intentional heating or not of the substrates, target configuration) on their chemical, morphological and structural properties were investigated. The latter were also linked to their electrochemical performances, obtained with a liquid electrolyte or a solid electrolyte.