Laser direct write of planar alkaline microbatteries

We are developing a laser engineering approach to fabricate and optimize alkaline microbatteries in planar geometries. The laser direct-write technique enables multicapability for adding, removing and processing material and provides the ability to pattern complicated structures needed for fabricating complete microbattery assemblies. In this paper, we demonstrate the production of planar zinc-silver oxide alkaline cells under ambient conditions. The microbattery cells exhibit 1.55-V open-circuit potentials, as expected for the battery chemistry, and show a flat discharge behavior under constant-current loads. High capacities of over 450 μA h cm^-2 are obtained for 5-mm² microbatteries.