Abstracto

Temperature dependent surface morphology of laser ablated nanocrystalline LiCoO2 thin film cathodes

M.C.Rao

Thin films of LiCoO2 were grown by pulsed laser deposition technique on silicon substrates. Microstructural properties were studied with respect to their deposition parameters i.e. substrate temperature (Ts), oxygen partial pressure (pO2) and target composition in the deposition chamber. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) data demonstrated that the pulsed laser deposited LiCoO2 thin films are homogeneous and uniform with regard to the surface topography. For the film deposited at 300 ï‚°C in oxygen partial pressure of 100 mTorr (prepared from target with 15% Li2O) is composed of roughly spherical grains of varying sizes and the average grain size is estimated to be around 80 nm. The grain size increased with the increase of substrate temperature. SEM results supported the AFM data. The growth of LiCoO2 films were studied in relation to the deposition parameters for their effective utilization as cathode materials in solid state microbattery application.