Rapid prototyping of micropower sources by laser direct-write

A laser forward-transfer and micromachining process has been developed to fabricate and optimize mesoscale electrochemical power sources, such as primary Zn-Ag₂O and secondary Li-ion microbatteries. The laser direct-write technique allows for adding, removing and processing the various material systems required for the fabrication of micropower sources on many types of substrates under ambient conditions. In this work, we demonstrate planar zinc-silver oxide alkaline cell configurations with 1.5-1.55 V open-circuit potentials. The 10 mm² samples show a flat discharge behavior under constant-current loads and capacities of ∼100 μA h cm^-2. Stacked Liion cells with 3.80-V open-circuit potentials have also been fabricated and continue to operate after 50 charge/discharge cycles. The 9 mm² samples exhibit capacities of 110 μA h cm^-2.