Apparatus for deposition of thin-film, solid state batteries

Abstract

A multi-chambered deposition apparatus for depositing solid-state, thin-film battery materials onto substrate material. The apparatus minimally includes at least three distinct evacuable deposition chambers, which are physically interconnected in series. The first deposition chamber is adapted to deposit a layer of battery electrode material having a first polarity onto the substrate. The second deposition chamber is adapted to deposit a layer of solid-state electrolyte material onto the layer of battery electrode material deposited in the first chamber. The third deposition chamber is adapted to deposit a layer of battery electrode material having an opposite polarity from that deposited in the first chamber onto the solid-state electrolyte. The deposition chambers are interconnected by gas gates such that the substrate material is allowed to proceed from one deposition chamber to the next, while maintaining gaseous segregation between the chambers.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.