Interface control for high-performance all-solid-state Li thin-film batteries

We fabricated and evaluated four types of Li batteries, in this case a LTO/liquid electrolyte/Li battery, a LTO/LiPON/Li all-solid-state battery, and LTO/LiPON + liquid electrolyte/Li batteries with and without a separator to investigate and clarify the effects of each interface. Through the present research, it was found that a conventional polymer-based separator increases the impedance in the middle frequency region, resulting in an increase in the total cell resistance. After replacing the polymer-based separator with a thin-film solid electrolyte, the cycleability and capacity of the cell were comparable to those of a conventional Li-ion battery with a polymer separator. The all-solid-state Li thin-film battery without a liquid electrolyte exhibits the lowest capacity due to the large interfacial resistance between the Li metal and the LiPON solid electrolyte. However, we found that the insertion of an Al2O3 interlayer between the Li and LiPON improves the capacity.