Key Takeaways & Executive Findings
- •• Photolithography offers unparalleled resolution and design flexibility, making it ideal for fabricating microbatteries with precise micropatterns and complex 3D architectures. • The technique serves multiple roles in MB fabrication: as a template for 2D/3D micropatterns, a protective layer during etching, a mold for soft lithography, a component of active materials, and a sacrificial layer for micro-Swiss-roll structures. • Challenges remain in materials selection, packaging, and performance evaluation, but photolithographic MBs hold promise for powering IoT devices with on-chip energy storage. • This review provides a comprehensive framework for understanding photolithographic microfabrication, guiding future research and development in miniaturized energy storage.
Abstract
Microbatteries (MBs) are crucial to power miniaturized devices for the Internet of Things. In the evolutionary journey of MBs, fabrication technology emerges as the cornerstone, guiding the intricacies of their configuration designs, ensuring precision, and facilitating scalability for mass production. Photolithography stands out as an ideal technology, leveraging its unparalleled resolution, exceptional design flexibility, and entrenched position within the mature semiconductor industry. However, comprehensive reviews on its application in MB development remain scarce. This review aims to bridge that gap by thoroughly assessing the recent status and promising prospects of photolithographic microfabrication for MBs. Firstly, we delve into the fundamental principles and step-by-step procedures of photolithography, offering a nuanced understanding of its operational mechanisms and the criteria for photoresist selection. Subsequently, we highlighted the specific roles of photolithography in the fabrication of MBs, including its utilization as a template for creating miniaturized micropatterns, a protective layer during the etching process, a mold for soft lithography, a constituent of MB active component, and a sacrificial layer in the construction of micro-Swiss-roll structure. Finally, the review concludes with a summary of the key challenges and future perspectives of MBs fabricated by photolithography, providing comprehensive insights and sparking research inspiration in this field.
1. Introduction
With the continuous development of microelectronics and microsystems, the Internet of Things (IoT) era characterized by digitalization, intelligence, and the “interconnection of all things” is coming [1–6]. Miniaturized electronic devices (MEDs) are significant parts of IoT, including micro-electro-mechanical systems, microsensors, intelligent electronic equipment, micro-robots, and implantable medical devices [7]. Complex tasks containing signal detection, information processing, mechanical actuation, and wireless communications can be accomplished by such MEDs, and the MEDs can be distributed everywhere to connect everything by their ultra-small size. Places inaccessible to traditional electronic devices, such as narrow areas inside machines, leaves or roots of crops, or even blood vessels inside the human body, can be arranged with MEDs [8]. By sensing various surrounding signals, intelligently analyzing and processing, and sending the data to the database by wireless transmission, MEDs can conveniently monitor the environment, agriculture, and medical health. Such an invisible net could connect everything, achieving the IoT and facilitating more efficient decision-making [5, 9].
Critically, the power supply serves as the cornerstone, enabling the functionality of all these MEDs and ensuring their seamless operation [10]. Although various kinds of energy from the environment can be harvested by solar cells, thermo-electric devices, and nanogenerators, these forms of energy are inherently unstable and discontinuous, hindering the steady operation of the MEDs [10]. Consequently, electrochemical energy storage devices such as batteries, with high energy density achieving continuous energy supply, are indispensable [9, 11–14]. Given that the size of MED is usually at the millimeter or even micron level, the batteries employed in these applications, also known as microbatteries (MBs), must possess ultra-small dimensions, customizable shapes, facile integration, and high energy density to meet the requirements of MEDs [6, 11, 14]. Regrettably, miniaturizing traditional batteries into MBs introduces challenges and more stringent criteria regarding configuration design, microfabrication technology, and material selection [10]. The configuration of traditional batteries, such as coin-type, cylinder-type, pouch-type, and prismatic-type, involves stacking or winding the cathode, anode, and separator together [15–17]. However, due to the tiny size and high precision requirements, the st
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Yuan Ma, Sen Wang, Zhong-Shuai Wu (2025). Photolithographic Microfabrication of Microbatteries for On-Chip Energy Storage. Nano-Micro Letters. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-024-01625-9
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the role of photolithography in microbattery fabrication?
Photolithography is used as a template for creating 2D and 3D micropatterns, a protective layer during etching, a mold for soft lithography, a component of the active material, and a sacrificial layer for constructing micro-Swiss-roll structures.
Why are microbatteries important for the Internet of Things (IoT)?
Microbatteries provide a compact and reliable power source for miniaturized electronic devices, which are essential components of IoT systems, enabling continuous operation and wireless communication.
What are the key challenges in photolithographic microfabrication of microbatteries?
Challenges include selecting appropriate materials, developing effective packaging techniques, ensuring performance evaluation, and scaling up the fabrication process for mass production.
What are the future directions for microbatteries fabricated using photolithography?
Future directions involve improving energy density, enhancing cycle stability, integrating with on-chip electronics, and exploring new materials and architectures to meet the demands of advanced IoT applications.
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