Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition silicon nitride for a high-performance lithium ion battery anode

Silicon nitride thin films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) were evaluated for their performance as lithium ion battery anodes. PECVD is a mature technique in the semiconductor industry, but has been less utilized in battery research. We show that PECVD is a powerful tool to control the chemical composition of battery materials and its corresponding specific capacity. A 250 nm nitride anode was shown to have a stable reversible capacity of 1800 mAh g−1 with 86% capacity retention after 300 cycles. The capacity dropped for thicker films (1 μm), where it retained 76% after 100 cycles. The high reversible capacity of the PECVD nitride anode was attributable to a conductive Li3N matrix and excellent adhesion between PECVD films and copper current collectors.