Magnetron sputtering deposition of silicon nitride on polyimide separator for high-temperature lithium-ion batteries

To date,lithium-ion batteries are becoming increasingly significant in the application of portable devices and electrical vehicles,and revolutionary progress in theoretical research and industrial application has been achieved.However,the commercial polyolefin separators with unsatisfying electrolytes affinity and poor thermal stability have extremely restricted the further application of lithium-ion batteries,especially in the high-temperature fields.In this work,magnetron sputtering deposition technique is employed to modify the commercial polyimide separator by coating silicon nitride on both sides.Magnetron sputtering deposition modified polyimide(MSD-PI)composite separator shows high thermal stability and ionic conductivity.More importantly,compared with the cells using Celgard separator,the cells with MSD-PI separator exhibit superior electrochemical performance,especially long-term cycle performance under high temperature environment,owing to the high thermal conductivity of surface Si3 N4 particles.Hence,lithium-ion batteries with MSD-PI separator are capable of improving thermal safety and capacity retention,which demonstrates that magnetron sputtering deposition technique could be regarded as a promising strategy to develop advanced organic/inorganic composite separators for high-temperature lithium-ion batteries.

Preparation and Corrosion Resistance of Magnesium Coatings by Magnetron Sputtering Deposition

Magnesium coatings were fabricated on stainless steel substrates (1Cr11Ni2W2MoV) by a plane magnetron sputtering technique. The argon pressure and the substrate condition (including temperature and the substrate was rotated or fixed) were varied in order to evaluate the influence of the parameters on the crystal orientation and morphology of the coating. The corrosion behavior of the coatings in 1 wt pct NaCI solution was studied by electrochemical methods. The results showed that all coatings exhibited preferred orientation (002) as the argon pressure increased from 0.2 to 0.4 Pa. The morphologies of the coatings varied with the argon pressure and with whether the substrate was rotated or fixed. The open circuit potential of the coatings was more positive than that of cast AZ91D magnesium alloy. However, the immersion test in 1 wt pct NaCI solution showed that the corrosion rates of the coatings were higher than that of cast AZ91D magnesium alloy.

EFFECT OF Ar PRESSURE ON STRUCTURAL AND ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF Cu FILMS DEPOSITED ON GLASS BY DC MAGNETRON SPUTTERING

Cu films with thickness of 630-1300nm were deposited on glass substrates without heating by DC magnetron sputtering in pure Ar gas. Ar pressure was controlled to 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5Pa respectively. The target voltage was fixed at 500V but the target current increased from 200 to 1150mA with Ar pressure increasing. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to observe the structural characterization of the films. The resistivity of the films was measured using four-point probe technique. At all the Ar pressures, the Cu films have mixture crystalline orientations of [111], [200] and [220] in the direction of the film growth. The film deposited at lower pressure shows more [111] orientation while that deposited at higher pressure has more [220] orientation. The amount of larger grains in the film prepared at 0.5Pa Ar pressure is slightly less than that prepared at 1.0Pa and 1.5Pa Ar pressures. The resistivities of the films prepared at three different Ar pressures represent few differences, about 3-4 times of that of bulk material. Besides the deposition rate increases with Ar pressure because of the increase in target current. The contribution of the bombardment of energetic reflected Argon atoms to these phenomena is discussed.

Composition and Microstructure of Magnetron Sputtering Deposited Ti-containing Amorphous Carbon Films

Ti-containing carbon films were deposited by using magnetron sputtering deposition. The composition and microstructure of the carbon films were characterized in detail by combining the techniques of Rutherford backscattering spectrometry （RBS）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, X-ray diffraction （XRD） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. It is found that carbon films contain Ti 18 at pct; after Ti incorporation, the films consist of titanium carbide; C1s peak appears at 283.4 eV and it could be divided into 283.29 and 284.55 eV, representing sp2 and sp3, respectively, and sp2 is superior to sp3. This Ti-containing film with dominating sp2 bonds is nanocomposites with nanocrystalline TiC clusters embedded in an amorphous carbon matrix, which could be proved by XRD and TEM.

Characterization of La-doped xBiInO_3(1-x)PbTiO_3 Piezoelectric Films Deposited by the Radio-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering Method

La-doped and undoped xBiIn03-（1 - x）PbTi03 （BI-PT） thin films are deposited on （101）SrRuO3/（lOO）Pt/（lO0） MgO substrates by the rf-magnetron sputtering method. The structures of the films are characterized by XRD and SEM, and the results indicate that the thin films are grown with mainly （100） oriented and columnar structures. The ferroelectricity and piezoelectricity of the BI-PT films are also measured, and the measured results illustrate that both performances are effectively improved by the La-doping with suitable concentrations. These results will open up wide potential applications of the films in electronic devices.

High Ferroelectricities and High Curie Temperature of BiInO3PbTiO3Thin Films Deposited by RF Magnetron Sputtering Method

Properties of ferroelectric xBiInO3-（1-x）PbTiO3（xBI-（1-x）PT） thin films deposited on（101） SrRuO3/（200）Pt/（200） MgO substrates by rf magnetron sputtering method and effects of deposition conditions are investigated.The structures of the xBI-（1-x）PT films are characterized by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.The results indicate that the thin films are grown with mainly（001） orientation. The chemical compositions of the films are analyzed by scanning electron probe and the results indicate that the loss phenomena of Pb and Bi elements depend on the pressure and temperature during the sputtering process.The sputtering parameters including target composition, substrate temperature, and gas pressure are adjusted to obtain optimum sputtering conditions. To decrease leakage currents,2 mol% La2 O3 is doped in the targets. The P-E hysteresis loops show that the optimized xBI-（1-x）PT（x = 0.24） film has high ferroelectricities with remnant polarization2 Pr = 80μC/cm2 and coercive electric field 2 EC = 300 kV/cm. The Curie temperature is about 640℃. The results show that the films have optimum performance and will have wide applications.

Effects of Substrate Temperature on Properties of Transparent Conductive Ta-Doped TiO_2 Films Deposited by Radio-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

Ta-doped titanium dioxide films are deposited on fused quartz substrates using the rf magnetron sputtering technique at different substrate temperatures. After post-annealing at 550℃ in a vacuum, all the films are crystallized into the polycrystalline anatase TiO2 structure. The effects of substrate temperature from room temperature up to 350℃ on the structure, morphology, and photoelectric properties of Ta-doped titanium dioxide films are analyzed. The average transmittance in the visible region（400-800 nm） of all films is more than 73%.The resistivity decreases firstly and then increases moderately with the increasing substrate temperature. The polycrystalline film deposited at 150℃ exhibits a lowest resistivity of 7.7 × 10^-4Ω·cm with the highest carrier density of 1.1×10^21 cm^-3 and the Hall mobility of 7.4 cm^2·V^-1s^-1.

Oxidation Behavior of Micro-Crystalline Coatings of 310S Stainless Steel

Micro-crystalline coatings of 310S stainless steels were produced by unbalanced magnetron sputter deposition. Isothermal oxidation behavior of the coated and uncoated specimens has been studied using a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) station. The oxidation time was 50h and the temperature was 1 000℃. The oxidation rates of thecoated specimens was found to be much lower than the uncoated specimens after 50 h of oxidation. The oxidationkinetic curves of the coated specimens consisted of three stages : approximately parabolic at the first stage, speedingup at the second stage, and slow down at the third stage. The increase of the oxidation rate at the second stage nasattributed to the fast diffuison of Fe though the fine grained Cr2O3 layer formed on the micro-crystalline coatings.The top view and cross-section microstructures of the oxides formed on the coated and the uncoated specimens werestudied with SEM and EDS. It was observed that the nucleation of oxide on the coated specimens was muchenhanced at the initial oxidation stage. This was explained as the result of reduction in the critical free energychange and increase in the supply of chromium ions.

Structure and optoelectrical properties of transparent conductive MGZO films deposited by magnetron sputtering

The transparent conductive Mg-Ga co-doped Zn O(MGZO) films were prepared by radio-frequency(RF) magnetron sputtering. The influence of substrate temperature on the structural and optoelectrical properties of the films is studied. The results show that all the films possess a preferential orientation along the(002) plane. With the increase of substrate temperature, the structure and optoelectrical properties of the films can be changed. When substrate temperature is 300 ℃, the deposited film exhibits the best crystalline quality and optoelectrical properties, with the minimum micro strain of 1.09×10^(-3), the highest average visible transmittance of 82.42%, the lowest resistivity of 1.62×10^(-3) Ω·cm and the highest figure of merit of 3.18×10~3 Ω^(-1)·cm^(-1). The optical bandgaps of the films are observed to be in the range of 3.342—3.545 eV. The refractive index dispersion curves obey the Sellmeier's dispersion model.