SBIR Phase II: Volumetric Microbatteries Using Soft Lithography

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop novel microbatteries. As microsystems emerge from the lab into applications such as implantable medical devices, smart surgical tools, and discrete, autonomous sensors, there is a critical need for power systems of a similar physical size (a few cubic mm or smaller) to the new miniaturized systems themselves. The microbattery developed under the Phase I effort exploits a volumetric approach to deliver power with a minimum volume and a minimum footprint. Compared with thin film batteries, which are surface area devices requiring a large footprint to achieve useful capacities. These novel devices meet the need for a small self-contained source of electrical power. The objective of the project will be to reduce the critical dimensions of the device to the order of 1mm, fully characterize their performance, and develop production and assembly procedures to manufacture integrated devices. The commercial and broader impacts of this technology will be to emerging new devices based on microsystems technology (devices containing microelectronics and MicroElectroMechanical Systems, (MEMS)) such as implantable medical devices, microsensors for broad area surveillance, and microsatellites.