Electrode for rechargeable lithium battery and rechargeable lithium battery

An electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery which includes a thin film composed of active material that expands and shrinks as it stores and releases lithium, deposited on a current collector, characterized in that said current collector exhibits a tensile strength×thickness of not less than 3.82 N/mm, a constituent of said current collector is diffused into said thin film of active material, the thin film of active material is divided into columns by gaps formed therein and extending in a thickness direction of said film from a surface of said film toward said current collector such that said columns extend in the thickness direction of the thin film and are separated by said gaps, and said columnar portions are at their bottoms adhered to the current collector

• where, the tensile strength×thickness of the current collector is determined in this and subsequent claims by the following equation:
• tensile strength×thickness of the current collector (N/mm)=tensile strength (N/mm2) per sectional area of the current collector material×thickness (mm) of the current collector.