Temperature and processing effects on lithium ion conductivity of solution‐deposited lithium zirconium phosphate (LiZr2P3O12) thin films

• Published in: Journal of the American Ceramic Society Vol. 104; no. 2; pp. 711 - 721
• Main Authors: Brummel, Ian A., Drury, Daniel E., Kitahara, Andrew R., El Gabaly, Farid, Ihlefeld, Jon F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Columbus Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.02.2021
• Subjects: Annealing; Conductivity; Crystallization; Deposition; Grain size; ionic conductivity; Lithium; Lithium ions; processing; Silicon substrates; sol‐gel; Thin films; Vapor phases; Vapor resistance; Zirconium
• ISSN: 0002-7820; 1551-2916
• DOI: 10.1111/jace.17483

Lithium zirconium phosphate (LiZr2P3O12) thin films have been prepared on platinized silicon substrates via a chemical solution deposition approach with processing temperatures between 700°C and 775°C. Films that were subject to a single high‐temperature anneal were found to crystallize at temperatures above 725°C. Crystallization was observed in films annealed after each deposited layer at 700°C and above. In both cases, grain size was found to increase with annealing temperature. Ion conductivity was found to increase with annealing temperature in singly annealed films. In per‐layer annealed films ion conductivity was found to initially increase then decrease with increasing annealing temperature. A maximum ion conductivity of 1.6 × 10−6 S/cm was observed for the singly annealed 775°C condition, while a maximum ion conductivity of 5.8 × 10−7 S/cm was observed for the 725°C per‐layer annealed condition. These results are consistent with an increasing influence of cross‐plane, internal interface resistance and vapor phase carrier loss in the per‐layer annealed samples. This work demonstrates that post‐deposition processing methods can strongly affect the ion conducting properties of LiZr2P3O12 thin films.