Tin/tin oxide thin film electrodes for lithium-ion batteries

Amorphous and crystallized tin-based composite oxide (TCO) thin layers were elaborated by radio frequency (r.f.) sputtering from a Sn/SnB0.6P0.4O2.9 target. Chemical, physical and electrochemical properties of these thin film electrodes are presented. The electrochemical behavior depends on several parameters including the nature of the metallic sub-layer acting as the current collector. Partially crystallized thin film-based electrodes deposited on an Au sub-layer and containing high amount of metallic tin were found to present a very interesting specific capacity (550 mAh/g) associated to promising cyclability.