Amorphous Carbon Films: Magnetron Sputter Deposition and Li-Intercalation Properties

Abstract

Carbon in its various forms is widely used as an intercalation anode in rechargeable Li-ion batteries. The perspective of formation of a solid-state thin-film microbattery of this type opens the task of deposition and characterization of carbon thin films useful for that purpose. Development of a multilayer planar galvanic cell structure imposes limitations on the process temperature that can be used in each individual layer deposition. This is especially important in the case of carbon, which usually requires relatively high temperatures to grow in graphite crystal structure. Recently, however, low-crystallized carbons with capacities greater than those of graphite have been reported as anode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries [1–2]. In this contribution, we report about amorphous carbon films prepared at temperatures 200 to 700°C and the investigation of their electrochemical intercalation properties.