US 6,982,132 · Granted 2006-01-03
The Microscopic Battery Patent That Powers Tomorrow's Gadgets
Imagine a battery so thin you could stack dozens on top of each other inside your phone, and it never loses its charge after years of use. This patent describes a rechargeable solid-state lithium battery made layer by layer using a special ion beam technique, solving the problem of how to pack more power into smaller spaces.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a rechargeable thin film battery constructed from solid-state lithium components—specifically the anode, cathode, and electrolyte layers—manufactured using a low-temperature ion beam assisted deposition method. What's protected here is both the final stacked battery structure itself and the manufacturing process for building these ultra-thin layers with precise crystallinity and orientation, preventing others from making or selling identical solid-state thin film batteries using this deposition approach.
Why it matters
Solid-state lithium batteries represent a fundamental leap forward in energy storage technology. Unlike traditional liquid-electrolyte batteries, solid-state designs promise higher energy density, longer lifespans, and better safety. This patent, filed in 2000 and granted in 2006, established key intellectual property around the manufacturing method—the ion beam assisted deposition technique—that made commercial production of these ultra-thin, stackable batteries feasible. Control over this process gave the assignee (Tufts College) significant leverage in licensing the technology to manufacturers developing next-generation portable electronics and electric vehicles.
Real-world use
When you charge a smartphone or electric car in the future, its ultra-thin, high-capacity battery pack may rely on solid-state chemistry built using this patented layer-by-layer ion beam process.
Original USPTO abstract
A rechargeable, stackable, thin film, solid-state lithium electrochemical cell, thin film lithium battery and method for making the same is disclosed. The cell and battery provide for a variety configurations, voltage and current capacities. An innovative low temperature ion beam assisted deposition method for fabricating thin film, solid-state anodes, cathodes and electrolytes is disclosed wherein a source of energetic ions and evaporants combine to form thin film cell components having preferred crystallinity, structure and orientation. The disclosed batteries are particularly useful as power sources for portable electronic devices and electric vehicle applications where high energy density, high reversible charge capacity, high discharge current and long battery lifetimes are required.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,982,132
- Filing date
- 2000-08-14
- Grant date
- 2006-01-03
- Assignee
- Trustees Of Tufts College
- Inventor(s)
- GOLDNER RONALD B., LIU TE-YANG, GOLDNER MARK A., GEROUKI ALEXANDRA, HAAS TERRY E.
- CPC class
- E06B9/24
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