Effect of boron/phosphorus ratio in lithium boron phosphorus oxynitride thin film electrolytes for all-solid-state thin film batteries

Abstract For application to all-solid-state thin film batteries, lithium boron phosphorus oxynitride (LiBPON) thin films were fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering technique of lithium borate (Li 3 BO 3 ) and lithium phosphate (Li 3 PO 4 ) target under N 2 atmosphere. To investigate the mixed former effect upon the LiBPON thin films, we prepared various films with controlled B and P contents. The LiBPON thin film formulation with nearly equal B and P contents showed the highest room-temperature lithium ionic conductivity of 3.52 × 10 −6  S cm −1 and the lowest activation energy of 48.24 kJ mol −1 owing to the mixed former effect, the increased lithium content and nitridation. Infrared spectra of the glass thin films achieved two dominant peaks corresponding to BO 3 3− and PO 4 3− unit. N1s spectra were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy that the increased ionic conductivities observed were related to the formation of triply coordinated nitrogen.