(Photos: National Instruments)

1. Si Li Al O Engineering LiAlSiO4 Electrolyte in Micro-Batteries Jane P. Chang, University of California-Los Angeles, DMR 0932761 An ultra-thin, conformal and highly conductive electrolyte layer is essential to the fabrication of 3-D micro-batteries with high power density. Atomic layer deposition has been used to synthesize these ultra-thin and functional electrolyte layers with atomic precision in composition and structure. Two lithium containing precursors have been used for the synthesis and results from the most promising precursor is shown on the right. The composition has been confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the preliminary impedance measurements suggest that the electronic resistance is high and the ionic conductivity can be further improved by compositional control. Crystal structure of LiAlSiO4 : (left) side view and (right) top view, showing the Li+ channels (Left) UPS on samples grown by LiAl[OC(CH3)3]3H and LiOC(CH3)3 with water and (right) impedance measurement of Li0.05Al0.95SixOy

2. Engineering LiAlSiO4 Electrolyte in Micro-Batteries Jane P. Chang, University of California-Los Angeles, DMR 0932761 The broader impact of the research is to generate high power density and miniaturized 3-D batteries that can be used to power any micro-systems and sensors. Combining with embedded network sensing, these micro battery-powered devices can generate a network of information that is useful for surveillance of chemical warfare agents or enabling wireless health monitoring and tracking. One female graduate student and one female undergraduate student have been working collaboratively under this program, increasing the female participation in frontier engineering projects. (Photos: National Instruments) Source: Sinpro Enterprise Co. Images of 3-D microbatteries and their potential application in powering microdevices for embedded network sensing, wireless health etc