Electrochemical test methods for advanced battery and semiconductor technology

This dissertation consists of two studies. The first study was the evaluation of metallic materials for advanced lithium ion batteries and the second study was the determination of the dielectric constant k for the low-k materials.; The advanced lithium ion battery is miniature for implantable medical devices and capable of being recharged from outside of the body using magnetic induction without physical connections. The stability of metallic materials employed in the lithium ion battery is one of the major safety concerns. Three types of materials—Pt-Ir alloy, Ti alloys, and stainless steels—were evaluated extensively in this study. The electrochemical characteristics of Pt-Ir alloy, Ti alloys, and stainless steels were evaluated in several types of battery electrolytes in order to determine the candidate materials for long-term use in lithium ion batteries. The dissolution behavior of these materials and the decomposition behavior of the battery electrolyte were investigated using the anodic potentiodynamic polarization (APP) technique. Lifetime prediction for metal dissolution was conducted using constant potential polarization (CPP) technique. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique was employed to investigate the metal dissolution behavior or the battery electrolyte decomposition at the open circuit potential (OCP). The scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to observe the morphology changes after these tests. The effects of experimental factors on the corrosion behaviors of the metallic materials and stabilities of the battery electrolytes were also investigated using the 23 factorial design approach.; Integration of materials having low dielectric constant k as interlayer dielectrics and/or low-resistivity conductors will partially solve the RC delay problem for the limiting performance of high-speed logic chips. The samples of JSR LKD 5109 material capped by several materials were evaluated by using EIS. The feasibility of using EIS to determine the dielectric constant k of the low-k materials was also evaluated in this study. The test results demonstrated that the EIS technique is a powerful method in the study of low-k materials.