Layer structure of solid-state battery and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract

A solid-state battery layer structure (100) is provided, comprising an anode current collector metal layer (110), an anode layer (120) disposed on the anode current collector metal layer, a solid-state electrolyte layer (140) disposed laterally on the anode layer, a cathode layer (150) disposed on the solid-state electrolyte layer, a cathode current collector metal layer (160), and a plurality of nanowire structures (130) comprising silicon and / or gallium nitride, the nanowire structures (130) disposed on the anode layer (120), the nanowire structures (130) being laterally and vertically encased by the solid-state electrolyte layer (140), the anode layer comprising silicon, and a plurality of metal vias (224) connecting the plurality of nanowire structures to the anode current collector metal layer (110). A method for manufacturing the solid-state battery layer structure is also provided.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a layer structure of a solid-state battery and a method for manufacturing the same. [Background technology]

[0002] Lithium-ion battery technology, with its high charge capacity levels and rechargeability, has played a key role in advancing electrical energy storage and enabling mobile electronic devices such as portable computers and phones. Lithium-ion batteries have also been important for the resurgence of electric vehicles. However, conventional lithium-ion battery technology currently faces its own set of challenges. To achieve essentially universal battery improvements, battery device designs featuring solid electrolytes, as opposed to traditional liquid electrolytes, have gained popularity. Batteries with solid electrolytes are commonly referred to as solid-state batteries. Solid electrolytes, for example, reduce the risk of battery fire while necessitating new battery designs in terms of morphology and materials to maximize the potential for improved performance compared to liquid electrolyte batteries. In particular, improving the charge capacity of solid-state batteries, defined as the ratio of storable charge to the battery's weight, has not yet been adequately addressed in the prior art. Additionally, material-dependent volume expansion is another issue faced by conventional solid-state batteries. Therefore, there is a need for improvements in this field. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] It is an object of the present invention to provide a layer structure for a solid-state battery, as well as a method for manufacturing the structure, that alleviates at least some of the aforementioned problems and allows for improved battery charge capacity. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a layer structure of a solid state battery, comprising: an anode current collector metal layer; an anode layer disposed on the anode current collector metal layer; a solid electrolyte layer disposed laterally on the anode layer; a cathode layer disposed on the solid electrolyte layer; a cathode current collector metal layer; the anode layer comprises silicon; A layer structure for a solid-state battery is provided.

[0005] The term "disposed on" may refer to having layers or structures disposed on top of each other in the vertical direction of the layer structure or stack. The vertical direction may be substantially perpendicular and perpendicular to the surface of the layer or layers within the layer structure. The term "comprising" may be used throughout this disclosure to refer to layers and structures that at least partially comprise a particular material. This term does not exclude a layer or structure from including impurities of other materials, nor does it exclude a layer or structure that consists essentially of the material that it is made up of.

[0006] Such a structure may alleviate some of the problems of the prior art. Silicon anodes may be advantageous, for example, for lithium-ion-based batteries in increasing charge capacity. This is because silicon atoms, which are well alloyed to form composite anode materials, are better able to bond with and thus retain more lithium atoms than the carbon atoms of conventional graphite anodes. Battery charge capacity may be recorded in units of ampere-hours or coulombs. Furthermore, the use of silicon anodes may simplify the fabrication of battery layer structures and increase production yields by utilizing advanced techniques and methods commonly used in microelectronics fabrication. In this way, solid-state batteries may be effectively miniaturized. Silicon anodes may be based on single-crystal substrates. In this way, solid-state battery layer structures may be more integrated with silicon-based microelectronics. Thus, electronic circuits and devices integrated with solid-state batteries may be both enabled and miniaturized.

[0007] The anode layer may include gallium nitride.

[0008] Utilizing gallium nitride in anode layers, for example as a thin top layer of an anode layer that otherwise contains primarily silicon, may alleviate problems in the prior art. The charge capacity of solid-state batteries with gallium nitride anode material may be ∼2.5 times greater than solid-state batteries with conventional graphite anodes. The diffusion barrier for lithium ion diffusion with gallium nitride anodes may also be lower compared to the same barrier with graphite anodes. This may be advantageous for rapid battery charging.

[0009] The layer structure of the solid-state battery may further include a plurality of nanowire structures, the nanowire structures being disposed on the anode layer, and the nanowire structures being laterally and vertically enveloped by the solid electrolyte layer.

[0010] The term "nanowire structure," also simply referred to as nanostructure, may refer to an elongated structure having dimensions such as diameter and length on the nanometer scale, i.e., 1-100 nm. Nanowire structures may be simple and substantially straight, or may comprise at least one node along its length from which at least two separate branches extend. Such nanowire structures may also be referred to as nanotree or nanowire tree structures.

[0011] The term "laterally and longitudinally wrapped" may refer to wrapping the nanowire structure both laterally or radially and longitudinally. The entire nanowire structure, including all final branches, faces and surfaces, may be covered by the solid electrolyte material forming the solid electrolyte layer.

[0012] The addition of such nanowire structures may advantageously increase the effective contact area between the anode and solid electrolyte, thus increasing the battery's charge capacity and potentially the proportion of charge-carrying ions. For example, lithium ions may alloy with the anode material. In addition, the use of nanowire structures may mitigate the volumetric expansion of some materials during battery operation. For example, a bulk silicon anode may expand 300–400 percent during lithiation, i.e., during the process of charging the battery when the charge carriers are lithium ions. Nanostructures, such as nanowires, are advantageous because their volumetric expansion may be much less severe than that of bulk materials. This advantage of nanostructures may be due to their more localized and distributed volumetric expansion compared to the expansion of a bulk layer as a unit. This mitigation of the volumetric expansion problem may be even more relevant for solid electrolyte batteries because solids generally have less mechanical movement than liquids. Furthermore, nanostructures such as these may be fabricated by structured, well-defined methods, and even if some irregularities occur, the effective contact area may still be increased.

[0013] Each nanowire structure in the plurality of nanowire structures may include a vertical trunk and a plurality of branches extending from the vertical trunk, and the vertical trunks in the plurality of nanowire structures may be disposed in a direction perpendicular to the top surface of the anode layer.

[0014] The term "vertically oriented" may refer to aligning the entire nanowire structure, and in particular the longitudinal trunk, so that it extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to and perpendicular to the top surface of the anode layer. This direction may alternatively be understood as corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the layer structure. Providing a tree-shaped nanowire structure with both trunks and branches may further increase the effective contact area between the anode and solid electrolyte and the battery charge capacity. In addition, the tree-shaped nanowire structure may further mitigate the volume expansion problem discussed above.

[0015] A plurality of tree-shaped nanowire structures or nanotrees may be visually compared or likened to a nanoforest.

[0016] The plurality of nanowire structures may comprise silicon.

[0017] Such nanowire structures may be advantageous because they are relatively easy to form due to the large number of silicon structures and available processing methods. Because silicon nanowire structures effectively extend the anode, the same benefits of using silicon as the anode material would apply: charging capacity may be increased.

[0018] The multiple nanowire structure may include gallium nitride.

[0019] Similar to the above, gallium nitride nanowire structures extending the anode may also improve the charge capacity of solid-state batteries.

[0020] The anode layer may include a plurality of metal vias connecting the plurality of nanowire structures to the anode current collector metal layer.

[0021] In that way, a lower resistance or more ohmic conductive path may be provided as a basis for the nanowire structure.

[0022] The solid electrolyte layer may include lithium phosphate.

[0023] Lithium phosphate or compounds containing lithium phosphate may be considered advantageous materials for the solid electrolyte layer in the layer structure of a solid-state battery. By diffusion through atomic vacancies in the solid electrolyte material lattice, lithium phosphate may enable the transport of lithium ions between the anode and cathode in a solid-state battery.

[0024] The cathode layer may include lithium cobalt oxide or other metal oxides.

[0025] Lithium cobalt oxide may be considered an advantageous material for the cathode layer.

[0026] The cathode current collector metal layer may comprise aluminum.

[0027] The aluminum may provide a low resistance or suitable ohmic conductive path to the cathode layer.

[0028] The anode current collector metal layer may comprise copper.

[0029] Copper may provide a low resistance or suitable ohmic conductive path to the anode layer and also to the nanowire structure, if present.

[0030] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for producing a layer structure of a solid state battery, the method comprising: providing an anode layer; forming a plurality of nanowire structures on the anode layer, each nanowire structure including a longitudinal trunk and a plurality of branches extending from the longitudinal trunk, the longitudinal trunks of the nanowire structures being disposed in a direction perpendicular to the top surface of the anode layer; depositing a solid electrolyte layer on the anode layer, the solid electrolyte layer laterally and vertically enveloping the nanowire structure; depositing a cathode layer on the solid electrolyte layer; depositing a cathode current collector metal layer on the cathode layer; depositing an anode current collector metal layer on the bottom surface of the anode layer.

[0031] The term "forming" may refer to any method or technique for forming a layer or structure. The term "depositing" may refer to the use of any method or technique for forming a layer or structure by the addition of material. Examples of deposition techniques may include chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE), sputtering, evaporation, etc. Thus, the forming step may refer to depositing. The anode current collector metal layer should be understood to be deposited on the bottom surface of the anode layer; that is, not on or above the anode layer when considering the vertical direction of the layer structure or stack.

[0032] Such a method may be used to fabricate a layer structure of a solid-state battery according to the first aspect. Accordingly, the advantages may closely correspond to those described in the first aspect. In summary, by using existing microelectronic fabrication methods and technologies, this method may provide a relatively low-complexity method for fabricating a layer structure of a solid-state battery. This method may enable close integration with electronic devices and miniaturization.

[0033] The method may further include etching holes through the anode layer from a bottom surface thereof, and the step of depositing an anode current collector metal layer on the bottom surface thereof may further include filling the holes with a material that is the same as the material of the anode current collector metal layer.

[0034] This etching and filling addition may be understood to correspond to forming a via at the base of the nanowire structure as described in the first embodiment. Accordingly, similar advantages and beneficial effects apply. Such backside wafer vias may be provided by plasma etching of silicon oxide or silicon nitride as a hard mask for deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) of silicon.

[0035] The method may further include aligning holes through the anode layer with the plurality of nanowire structures.

[0036] In that way, a more ideal conductive path may be obtained between the anode contact and the nanowire structure.

[0037] The step of forming a plurality of nanowire structures includes: forming a plurality of seed particles on an upper surface of the anode layer; epitaxially growing a plurality of longitudinal stems of nanowire structures from the plurality of stem seed particles; depositing branch seed particles on a vertical stem; The method may include epitaxially growing a plurality of nanowire structure branches from a branch seed particle.

[0038] Forming nanowire structures by particle formation, e.g., deposition and subsequent particle-mediated epitaxy, may be an effective method for forming tree-shaped nanowire structures comprising a primary nanowire structure, i.e., a vertical trunk, and secondary nanowire structures, i.e., branches where the primary nanowire structure serves as a base for the secondary nanowire structures.

[0039] The branches may be understood to grow substantially laterally from the longitudinal trunk, and the branch seed particles may be understood to be deposited on the radial or lateral surfaces of, and along the entire length of, the longitudinal trunk.

[0040] Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given for purposes of illustration only. Thus, various changes and modifications within the scope of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

[0041] Therefore, this invention is not limited to the particular components of the apparatus described or operation of the methods described, as such apparatus and methods may vary. It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting.

[0042] It should be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the words "a," "an," "the," and "said" are intended to refer to one or more elements, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a unit" or "the unit" may include several devices, etc. Furthermore, the use of "comprising," "include," "containing," and similar expressions does not exclude other elements or steps. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0043] These and other aspects of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which should not be considered as limiting, but instead for purposes of illustration and understanding.

[0044] As illustrated in the figures, the dimensions of layers and regions may be exaggerated for illustrative purposes and, thus, are provided to illustrate general structures. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

[0045] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of the layer structure of a solid-state battery. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the layer structure of a solid-state battery with nanowire structures. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the layer structure of a solid-state battery with nanowire structures and vias. [Figure 4]FIG. 4 shows a flow chart with steps for forming the layer structure of a solid-state battery. [Figure 5] 5a-5h show cross-sectional views of the layer structure of a solid-state battery at various stages of its fabrication. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 shows a flow chart with steps for forming a nanowire structure. [Figure 7] 7a-d show cross-sectional views of nanowire structures at various stages of their formation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0046] The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which presently preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided for thoroughness and completeness and to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

[0047] FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a layer structure 100 of a solid-state battery. an anode current collector metal layer 110; an anode layer 120 disposed on the anode current collector metal layer; a solid electrolyte layer 140 disposed laterally on the anode layer; a cathode layer 150 disposed on the solid electrolyte layer; a cathode current collector metal layer 160; The anode layer comprises silicon.

[0048] The anode current collector metal layer 110 may comprise or consist essentially of copper. Alternatively or additionally, the anode current collector metal layer 110 may comprise one of the following other metallic materials: gold, silver, platinum, nickel, titanium, zinc, chromium, tin, lead, manganese, cobalt, and iron. The anode current collector metal layer 110 may also comprise an alloy material.

[0049] The anode layer 120 is <111> The anode layer 120 may comprise silicon. The anode layer 120 may be a crystalline silicon substrate or wafer. The anode layer 120 may comprise, or consist essentially of, gallium nitride. The anode layer 120 may comprise a thin upper sublayer of gallium nitride disposed on a lower sublayer of silicon. The anode layer 120 comprising GaN may be passivated with hydrogen. Lithium may be incorporated or alloyed into the anode layer 120.

[0050] The solid electrolyte layer 140 may include or consist essentially of lithium phosphate (Li3PO4). The solid electrolyte layer 140 may additionally or alternatively include or consist essentially of other materials, such as lithium iron phosphate (Li3FePO4) or lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON).

[0051] Other lithium compounds may also be used in the solid electrolyte layer 140 .

[0052] The solid electrolyte layer 140 may feature atomic vacancies at lithium atomic lattice sites to allow conduction by diffusion of lithium ions through the solid electrolyte layer 140. The solid electrolyte layer 140 may also include magnesium substitution or impurity atoms to restore charge balance within the lattice that may be lost by introducing lattice lithium vacancies.

[0053] The solid electrolyte layer 140 may have a thickness in the range of 500 to 5000 nm.

[0054] Cathode layer 150 may include or consist essentially of lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO). Cathode layer 150 may alternatively or additionally include other metal oxide-based materials.

[0055] The cathode current collector metal layer 160 may include or consist essentially of aluminum. Alternatively or additionally, the cathode current collector metal layer 160 may include one of the following other metallic materials: gold, silver, platinum, nickel, titanium, zinc, chromium, tin, lead, manganese, cobalt, and iron. The cathode current collector metal layer 160 may also include an alloy material.

[0056] 2 shows a layer structure of the solid-state battery 100 further comprising a plurality of nanowire structures 130. The nanowire structures 130 may be disposed on the anode layer 120. The nanowire structures 130 may be laterally and vertically enveloped by a solid electrolyte layer 140.

[0057] Each nanowire structure 130 in the plurality of nanowire structures may include a longitudinal trunk 132 and a plurality of branches 134 extending from the longitudinal trunk. The longitudinal trunks in the plurality of nanowire structures may be disposed perpendicular to the top surface 122 of the anode layer 120.

[0058] The nanowire structures 130 may be arranged in a hexagonal pattern on the upper surface 122 of the anode layer 120. The vertical stems 132 of the nanowire structures 130 may be spaced apart from their nearest neighbors at intervals ranging from 100 to 1000 nm. More preferably, the spacing is in the range of 250 to 750 nm. Most preferably, the spacing is in the range of 400 to 600 nm.

[0059] The nanowire structures 130 may alternatively be disposed on the anode layer 120 with each nanowire structure 130 in any orientation. Such a configuration may be less complex while increasing the effective anode electrolyte contact area.

[0060] The longitudinal stems 132 may have a length in the range of 500 to 5000 nm. More preferably, the length is in the range of 1000 to 3000 nm. Most preferably, the length is in the range of 1500 nm to 2500 nm.

[0061] The branches 134 may have a length in the range of 50 to 500 nm. More preferably, the length is in the range of 50 to 250 nm. Most preferably, the length is in the range of 50 to 150 nm.

[0062] The plurality of nanowire structures may comprise or consist essentially of silicon. The nanowire structure 130 has a crystal lattice direction corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the nanowire structure. <111> The silicon may include crystalline silicon having the formula:

[0063] The plurality of nanowire structures may comprise or consist essentially of gallium nitride. The nanowire structure 130 has a crystal lattice direction corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the nanowire structure. <0001> The gallium nitride nanowire structure 130 may include crystalline gallium nitride having a hydrogen passivation layer on the surface and faces of the nanowire structure 130 to saturate unsaturated dangling bonds at the gallium nitride surface.

[0064] The nanowire structures 130 may incorporate or be alloyed with lithium alloys on their surface or in the bulk lattice.

[0065] 3 shows an anode layer 120 comprising a plurality of metal vias 224 connecting a plurality of nanowire structures 130 to the anode current collector metal layer 110. The metal vias 224 may comprise or consist essentially of the same material present in the anode current collector metal layer 110.

[0066] 4 shows a flow chart of a method for manufacturing a layer structure 100 of a solid-state battery. The method comprises: Providing an anode layer 120 (S1002); forming (S1004) a plurality of nanowire structures 130 on the anode layer 120, each nanowire structure 130 including a vertical trunk 132 and a plurality of branches 134 extending from the vertical trunk, the vertical trunk 132 of the nanowire structure 130 being formed in a direction perpendicular to the upper surface 122 of the anode layer 120; depositing (S1006) a solid electrolyte layer 140 on the anode layer 120, the solid electrolyte layer 140 laterally and vertically enveloping the plurality of nanowire structures 130; depositing (S1008) a cathode layer 150 on the solid electrolyte layer 140; depositing (S1010) a cathode current collector metal layer 160 on the cathode layer 150; depositing (S1012) an anode current collector metal layer 110 on the bottom surface 326 of the anode layer 120.

[0067] The nanowire structures 130 may be formed by MOVPE or CVD. The method may be via seed particles. The pattern in which the nanowire structures 130 are arranged may be formed using lithography techniques such as ultraviolet lithography (UVL), electron beam lithography (EBL), and nanoimprint lithography (NIL). Pattern transfer may be achieved via etching.

[0068] Nanosphere lithography (NSL) is used to etch the entire longitudinal stem 132. It may be used in conjunction with a chlorine-based plasma etch. In this way, the need for MOVPE may be avoided, at least to form the vertical trunks. The nanowire structure 130 may be passivated in situ before, during, and after the MOVPE process. The nanowire structure 130 may be passivated with hydrogen.

[0069] The method may further include incorporating or alloying lithium into the surface or bulk lattice of the nanowire structure 130. This may be accomplished by electrochemical processing. Lithium may be deposited on the nanowire structure 130 prior to depositing the solid electrolyte layer 140 (S1006). The lithium may be deposited by thermal evaporation.

[0070] The solid electrolyte layer 140 may be deposited (S1006) by a CVD method. The solid electrolyte layer 140 may be deposited by a PVD or sputtering method. The sputtering method may be a pulsed DC (direct current) or RF (radio frequency) based sputtering method. The solid electrolyte layer 140 may encapsulate all of the lithium deposited on the nanowire structure 130.

[0071] The cathode layer 150 may be deposited by CVD (S1008), the cathode current collector metal layer 160 may be deposited by PVD (S1010), and the anode current collector metal layer 110 may be deposited by PVD (S1012).

[0072] 4 also shows how the method may further include etching (S3002) holes 328 through the anode layer 120 from the bottom surface 326 of the anode layer 120. In this event, the step of depositing (S1012) the anode current collector metal layer 110 on the bottom surface 326 of the anode layer 120 further includes filling the holes 328 with the same material as the anode current collector metal layer 110. The filling of the holes 328 may correspond to the vias 224 of FIG.

[0073] Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the method may further include aligning (S4002) holes 328 through the anode layer 120 with the plurality of nanowire structures, i.e., aligning each hole 328 so that it corresponds to the position of one nanowire structure 130.

[0074] The holes 328 may be etched (S3002) by a reactive ion etching (RIE) method.

[0075] 5a-5h show cross-sectional views of the layers and structures of a solid-state battery layer structure 100 at various stages of its fabrication.

[0076] FIG. 5a shows the provided (S1002) anode layer 120, which is the base for subsequent processing steps.

[0077] FIG. 5b shows a nanowire structure in which multiple nanowire structures 130, each having a vertical trunk 132 and branches 134, are formed (S1012), and the vertical trunks 132 of the nanowire structures 130 are formed vertically toward the top surface 122 of the anode layer 120 (S1004).

[0078] FIG. 5 c shows a solid electrolyte layer 140 deposited ( S1006 ) on the anode layer 120 so as to laterally and vertically encase the plurality of nanowire structures 130 .

[0079] FIG. 5 d shows a cathode layer 150 deposited ( S1008 ) on the solid electrolyte layer 140 .

[0080] 5e shows a cathode current collector metal layer 160 deposited (S1010) on the cathode layer 150. The layer structure of the solid-state battery may be flipped over after step S1010 to accommodate subsequent processing steps.

[0081] FIG. 5f shows the anode current collector metal layer 110 deposited (S1012) on the bottom surface 326 of the anode layer 120, thus completing the layer structure 100 of the solid-state battery.

[0082] 5g-h show an alternative method for completing the layer structure 100 compared to the method shown in FIG. 5f.

[0083] 5g shows a hole 328 that has been etched from the bottom (S3002) through the anode layer 120 from its bottom surface 326. The hole 328 is also shown to be aligned (S4002) with the nanowire structure 130.

[0084] FIG. 5h shows the anode current collector metal layer 110 deposited (S1012) on the bottom surface 326 of the anode layer 120 and through the anode layer 120 into the holes 328, thus completing the layer structure 100 of the solid-state battery.

[0085] 6 shows a flowchart of the step of forming (S1004) a plurality of nanowire structures 130. The step (S1004) includes: forming (S2002) a plurality of stem seed particles 436 on the upper surface 122 of the anode layer 120; epitaxially growing (S2004) longitudinal stems 132 of a plurality of nanowire structures 130 from the plurality of stem seed particles 436; depositing (S2006) branch seed particles 438 on the vertical trunk 132; epitaxially growing (S2008) the branches 134 of the plurality of nanowire structures 130 from the branch seed particles 438.

[0086] The trunk seed and branch seed particles 436, 438 may be, for example, gold seed particles. The trunk seed and branch seed particles 436, 438 may include other materials besides gold, such as silver, palladium, cobalt, bismuth, and platinum. The trunk seed and branch seed particles 436, 438 may be deposited using aerosol deposition. Deposition or formation of multiple seed particles 436, 438 may be formed on their respective surfaces or structures, preferably with or without mutual alignment. The trunk seed particles 436 may be formed using lithography-based patterning techniques. Such techniques may include forming a gold layer on the anode layer 120 by electroplating, vapor deposition, or sputtering, followed by lithography-based patterning, such as resist coating, exposure, and etching steps, to achieve a well-defined pattern of trunk seed particles 436 remaining on the top surface 122 of the anode layer 120.

[0087] The nanowire structure 130 may be grown using seed particles via epitaxy. Essentially, this may mean that the crystalline nanowire structure 130 is grown epitaxially from the seed particles 436, 438. The seed particles 436, 438 may first absorb precursor gases.

[0088] 7a-d are cross-sectional or side views of nanowire structures 130 at different stages of their formation.

[0089] FIG. 7 a shows a plurality of stem seed particles 436 formed (S 2002 ) on the top surface 122 of the anode layer 120 .

[0090] FIG. 7b shows the vertical stems 132 that have been epitaxially grown (S2004).

[0091] FIG. 7 c shows branch seed particles 438 deposited (S 2006 ) on the vertical trunk 132 .

[0092] FIG. 7d shows the epitaxially grown (S2008) branch 134.

[0093] Additionally, variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.

Claims

1. an anode current collector metal layer (110); an anode layer (120) disposed on the anode current collector metal layer; a solid electrolyte layer (140) disposed on the anode layer; a cathode layer (150) disposed on the solid electrolyte layer; a cathode current collector metal layer (160); a plurality of nanowire structures (130) comprising silicon and / or gallium nitride, the plurality of nanowire structures (130) being disposed on top of the anode layer (120), the plurality of nanowire structures (130) being laterally and vertically enveloped by the solid electrolyte layer (140); the anode layer (120) comprises silicon and a plurality of metal vias (224), each directly connected to a respective one of the plurality of nanowire structures (130), the plurality of metal vias (224) connecting the plurality of nanowire structures (130) to the anode current collector metal layer (110); Layer structure of a solid-state battery (100).

2. 10. The layer structure of the solid state battery of claim 1, wherein the anode layer comprises gallium nitride.

3. 3. The layer structure of a solid-state battery according to claim 1, wherein each nanowire structure in the plurality of nanowire structures comprises a vertical trunk (132) and a plurality of branches (134) extending from the vertical trunk, and the vertical trunks in the plurality of nanowire structures are arranged perpendicular to the top surface (122) of the anode layer.

4. 4. The layer structure of a solid-state battery according to claim 1, wherein the solid electrolyte layer comprises lithium phosphate.

5. 5. The layer structure of a solid-state battery according to claim 1, wherein the cathode layer comprises lithium cobalt oxide or another metal oxide.

6. The layer structure of a solid-state battery according to claim 1 , wherein the cathode current collector metal layer comprises aluminum.

7. The layer structure of a solid-state battery according to claim 1 , wherein the anode current collector metal layer comprises copper.

8. A method for manufacturing a layer structure (100) of a solid-state battery, said method comprising the steps of: providing (S1002) an anode layer (120) comprising silicon; forming (S1004) a plurality of nanowire structures (130) including silicon and / or gallium nitride on the anode layer, the nanowire structures (130) being formed vertically on the upper surface (122) of the anode layer; depositing (S1006) a solid electrolyte layer (140) on the anode layer, the solid electrolyte layer laterally and vertically enveloping the plurality of nanowire structures; depositing (S1008) a cathode layer (150) on the solid electrolyte layer; depositing (S1010) a cathode current collector metal layer (160) on the cathode layer; Etching (S3002) holes (328) through the anode layer (120) from a bottom surface (326) of the anode layer, the holes overlapping the plurality of nanowire structures; depositing (S1012) an anode current collector metal layer (110) on the bottom surface (326) of the anode layer, filling the holes with the same material as the anode current collector metal layer to form a plurality of metal vias, each metal via directly connecting to a respective one of the plurality of nanowire structures (130), and the plurality of metal vias (224) connecting the plurality of nanowire structures (130) to the anode current collector metal layer; Methods including:

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising aligning (S4002) the holes through the anode layer with the plurality of nanowire structures.

10. forming the plurality of nanowire structures, forming (S2002) a plurality of stem seed particles (436) on the upper surface of the anode layer; epitaxially growing (S2004) longitudinal stems of the plurality of nanowire structures from the plurality of stem seed particles; depositing (S2006) branch seed particles (438) on the vertical trunks; epitaxially growing (S2008) branches of the plurality of nanowire structures from the branch seed particles; 10. The method according to claim 8 or 9.

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