Growth of HT-LiCoO2 thin films on Pt-metalized silicon substrates

Layered LiCoO2 (HT-LiCoO2) films were grown on Pt-metalized silicon (PMS) substrates and polished bulk nickel (PBN) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The effects of substrate temperature, oxygen pressure, and substrate surface roughness on the microstructure of LiCoO2 films were investigated. It has been found that a higher substrate temperature and a higher oxygen pressure favor the formation of better crystallized and less lithium-deficient HT-LiCoO2 films. The HT-LiCoO2 film deposited on PBN substrates consists of large randomly orientated equiaxial grains, whereas on PMS substrate, it is made up of loosely packed highly [00l] preferential orientated triangular shaped grains with the average grain size less than 100 nm. Electrochemical measurements show that the highly [00l] preferentially orientated nanostructured HT-LiCoO2 thin film grown on PMS substrate has good structural stability upon lithium insertion/extraction and can deliver an initial discharge capacity of approximately 45 μA·h·cm−2·μm−1 with a cycling efficiency of above 99% at the charge/discharge rate of 0.5 C.