Microscopic Batteries for Use in MEMs

One of the limiting factors in the operation of MEMS is energy transmission and storage. It is often necessary to transmit energy for a MEMS from some external source into the circuit, thereby suffering power losses which can be significant. The reduction of the power losses is therefore a desirable goal. The purpose of this work is to develop and build microscopic batteries (0.0001 cm2) which can be located within a MEMS circuit, close to where they are needed. During periods of high energy usage, power is supplied from the battery. The battery can be recharged from an external source at a lower rate, thus reducing power transmission losses. The battery can therefore serve as a load-levelling energy storage device. Presently numerous microfabrication techniques exist for making microscopic electronic devices. Using, appropriate techniques, prototype batteries will be built to demonstrate performance of microscopic batteries.