Combinatorial Synthesis of Epitaxial LiCoO2 Thin Films on SrTiO3(001) via On-Substrate Sintering of Li2CO3 and CoO by Pulsed Laser Deposition.

High-quality single-phase epitaxial LiCoO2 thin films are synthesized on 0.5 wt % Nb-doped SrTiO3(001) substrates by nanoscale alternate deposition of Li2CO3 and CoO as Li and Co sources, respectively, using a combinatorial pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The formation of LiCoO2 thin films from these two sources results from the sintering reaction between Li2CO3 and CoO, which is commonly used in a bulk ceramics process, but simultaneously takes place on the substrate during the deposition at a temperature of 550 °C. Electrochemical characterization reveals that the charge/discharge property of LiCoO2 thin films as a cathode is severely sensitive to the nominal Li:Co composition ratio. The best-quality film shows an excellent discharge capacity comparable with the characteristic capacity of LiCoO2.