Fabrication of mesoscale energy storage systems by laser direct-write

Over the last two decades, there has been a trend towards the development of smaller and more autonomous electronic devices, yet the question of how to power these microdevices with correspondingly small power sources remains. To address this problem, we employ a laser forward-transfer process in combination with ultraviolet laser micromachining, to fabricate mesoscale electrochemical power sources, such as microbatteries and micro-ultracapacitors. This direct-write laser-engineering approach enables the deposition of battery materials (hydrous ruthenium oxide, manganese oxide, lithium cobalt oxide, etc.) under ambient temperature and atmospheric conditions, resulting in films with the desired morphological and electrochemical properties. Planar and stacked cell configurations are produced and tested for their energy storage and power delivery capabilities and exhibit favorable performance in comparison to current battery technology.