Lettre du LAAS

Publication trimestrielle du Laboratoire
d'analyse et d'architecture des systèmes du CNRS

The increasing number of functions in portable electronic devices requires more and more energy and power within a limited space. Li-ion thin film or so-called micro-batteries are the current solution for power supply. Drawbacks of these storage elements are poor power performance with limited life-span and temperature range. Carbon-based micro-supercapacitors, on the other hand, are able to deliver energy in short time, thus offering high power capability, to work at low temperature and they present a significantly longer life-span than micro-batteries. This thesis proposes several carbon-based micro-supercapacitors, to be integrated on a silicon substrate together with other electronics components or sensors. They are foreseen as a potential replacement or complement of Li-ion micro-batteries to enhance the total performance of the whole power source system. The thesis work is mainly focused on adapted materials and technologies for enabling micro-supercapacitors realization.   Two types of on-chip micro-supercapacitors with planar interdigitated electrodes configuration were developed: one prepared from electrophoretic deposition (EPD) and its combination of different carbon materials and different types of electrolytes, the other from patterned titanium or silicon carbide derived carbon film (TiC-CDC or SiC-CDC) on Si chip with different microfabrication techniques. Onion like carbon-based micro-supercapacitor by EPD shows high power delivery (scan rate up to 100V/s) in organic electrolyte, and high temperature range (-50 °C - 80 °C) in a eutectic mixture of ionic liquids. Different techniques for patterning carbide films have been developed to fabricate a CDC based micro-supercapacitor: reactive ion etching (RIE) or focused ion beam (FIB). TiC-CDC film based micro-supercapacitors show promising preliminary results. The developed technologies pave the way to a full and effective integration of micro-size energy storage devices on-chip.