A simple solution processing method is developed to achieve a uniform and scalable stabilized lithium metal powder (SLMP) coating on a Li-ion negative electrode. A solvent and binder system for the SLMP coating is developed, including the selection of solvent, polymer binder, and optimization of polymer concentration. The optimized binder solution is a 1% concentration of polymer binder in xylene; a
Electroplated Cu films with different plating conditions and thicknesses are characterized to study the stress and texture evolution involved in the transition of the microstructure during self-annealing. Grain growth during the process induces stress in the film in the tensile direction. Degradation of the (111) texture and enhancement of the (200) texture are observed in the films during the microstructural transition. The rate of self-annealing increases dramatically as the plating current density increases. Self-annealing is significantly retarded in thinner films and in films plated with pulse reverse current. A strong correlation between stress and texture development is demonstrated for all electroplated Cu films under self- and thermal annealing conditions. This correlation is explained by the surface/interface energy and strain energy in anisotropic metal films. Due to the mechanical anisotropy of Cu, the orientation with the lowest total energy changes from (111) to (200) as the dominant energy that determines the film texture changes from surface/interface related to strain related. The texture remains unchanged until the biaxial stress in the film exceeds a critical value. Above the level of critical stress, the (111) texture starts to degrade and the (200) starts to become enhanced, which reduces the strain energy in the film. Different amounts of stress develop in Cu films during thermal annealing depending on the barrier layers; the stress is largest with TaSiN, medium with Ta and smallest with TaN. This suggests that film stress and texture are also affected by the Cu/barrier interface bond strength.
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