Atomic layer deposition of YSZ electrolytes for solid-state battery development: Beyond lithium

Due to the increased power consumption of advanced integrated circuits (IC) having billions of interconnected devices, ever more demanding energy requirements are needed for these chips with every technology node. This is especially important in the era of artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), advanced communication networks like 5G/6G, and others, whose applications depend on these chips and on the access to reliable energy supplies. Therefore, supplementary energy alternatives able to energize and/or protect critical functions of these IC are required. Here, we present some advances in the development of ZrO2:Y2O3-based solid electrolytes (obtained by atomic layer deposition) that, along with the right metallic electrodes and interfaces, can result in solid-state batteries (SSB) able to provide a fraction of the energy required to operate simple integrated devices and circuits. By integrating SSB in the same chip, critical functions could be kept running without severely compromising size area, all while integrating SSB within the latest stages of a back-end of line process. Finally, benchmarking of ALD-YSZ-based SSB shows that their performance compares or exceeds that of some Li-ion-based solid electrolytes.