Simultaneous Solid Electrolyte Deposition and Cathode Lithiation for Thin Film Batteries and Lithium Iontronic Devices

We show that the deposition of the solid-state electrolyte LiPON onto films of V₂O₅ leads to their uniform lithiation of up to 2.2 Li per V₂O₅, without affecting the Li concentration in the LiPON and its ionic conductivity. Our results indicate that Li incorporation occurs during LiPON deposition, in contrast to earlier mechanisms proposed to explain postdeposition Li transfer between LiPON and LiCoO₂. We use our discovery to demonstrate symmetric thin film batteries with a capacity of >270 mAh/g, at a rate of 20C, and 1600 cycles with only 8.4% loss in capacity. We also show how autolithiation can simplify fabrication of Li iontronic transistors attractive for emerging neuromorphic computing applications. Our discovery that LiPON deposition results in autolithiation of the underlying insertion oxide has the potential to substantially simplify and enhance the fabrication process for thin film solid state Li ion batteries and emerging lithium iontronic neuromorphic computing devices.