SBIR Phase I: In Line Thin Film Battery (Cathode) Plasma Enhanced-Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (PE-MOCVD) Production Tool

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate proof of concepts of a next generation plasma-enhanced low temperature in-line linear PE-MOCVD (Web coating) system for thin film batteries. The requisite thin film battery technology exists and prototyping of the same on a polymer substrate has begun. Presently, the major limitation is the ability to effectively manufacture the solid-state cathode. Present efforts have shown a low temperature PE-CVD approach to be the best; however, no such tool meeting all the needs exists today. In defined steps, a prototype of the needed tool will be made, which will be sold commercially. Thin-film rechargeable batteries have numerous possible applications as active or standby power sources for microelectronics. Examples of active power sources include MEMS devices, smart cards, remote sensors, miniature transmitters, and implantable medical devices. Standby power applications include PCMCIA cards and other types of CMOS-SRAM memory devices.