Porous Silicon Capacitor Support Structure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Thin-film electrochemical capacitors lack the mechanical strength to achieve desired thicknesses, making it challenging to scale up their energy storage capacity due to fragility and potential breakage, while thicker three-dimensional devices are preferred for higher energy density but are difficult to manufacture effectively.
Innovation Solution
A support structure, such as a frame or scaffolding, is introduced to enhance the mechanical strength of porous structures like porous silicon, allowing for through-substrate deposition of high-k dielectrics and low-resistivity conductors, which increases capacitance, breakdown voltage, and energy density, and reduces effective series resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If thin-film electrochemical capacitors are made thicker to increase energy storage capacity, then energy density improves, but mechanical strength deteriorates causing fragility and breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The capacitor structure is segmented into multiple functional layers (porous electrode layer, dielectric layer, conductive layer, support structure) that can be manufactured separately and assembled. This allows optimization of each layer's properties independently, enabling thicker energy-storing porous layers to be supported by a separate structural framework without compromising overall mechanical integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
A support structure acts as an intermediary element between the porous electrode and external environment, providing mechanical reinforcement to the inherently fragile thin-film capacitor structure. This support framework enables the capacitor to achieve greater thickness for higher energy density while maintaining sufficient mechanical strength to prevent breakage during handling and operation.
2Quantity of substance
If through-substrate deposition is used to deposit high-k dielectrics and low-resistivity conductors, then capacitance and energy density increase, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate is prepared with pre-formed porous structures, support frameworks, and initial conductive layers before the through-substrate deposition process. This preliminary structuring allows the subsequent deposition of high-k dielectrics to proceed more efficiently through established pathways, reducing the complexity of achieving uniform thick dielectric layers compared to building up from thin films.
Solution Approach 2:
Traditional mechanical assembly of multiple thin-film capacitor layers is replaced with a through-substrate deposition process where materials are deposited directly through the substrate in a controlled sequence. This substitution of mechanical assembly with vapor-phase or liquid-phase deposition processes simplifies the manufacturing of complex multi-layer structures with high-k dielectrics and conductive interconnects.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The support structure improves the mechanical integrity of energy storage devices, enabling increased energy density, power output, and cost-effective manufacturing by allowing faster and more efficient material deposition, addressing the scalability and fragility issues of thin-film capacitors.
Implementation Method 1
A support structure, such as a frame or scaffolding, is introduced to enhance the mechanical strength of porous structures like porous silicon
Implementation Method 2
through-substrate deposition of high-k dielectrics and low-resistivity conductors, which increases capacitance
Implementation Method 3
through-substrate deposition of high-k dielectrics and low-resistivity conductors, which increases capacitance, breakdown voltage, and energy density, and reduces effective series resistance
Data Source
AI summary
An energy storage structure includes an energy storage device containing at least one porous structure (110, 120, 510, 1010) that contains multiple channels (111, 121), each one of which has an opening (112, 122) to a surface (115, 116, 515, 516, 1015, 1116) of the porous structure, and further includes a support structure (102, 402, 502, 1002) for the energy storage device. In a particular embodiment, the porous structure and the support structure are both formed from a first material, and the support structure physically contacts a first portion (513, 813, 1213) of the energy storage device and exposes a second portion (514, 814, 1214) of the energy storage device.