Ultra-Thin, Self-Powered Sensor Platform

Rechargeable lithium-based batteries offer the highest energy in the smallest packaging, making them ideally suited for paper-thin flexible hybrid electronics (FHE). However, they also require charge control circuitry (CCC) to protect against over-charging, over-discharging, and to minimize parasitic power to drive the CCC that can prematurely drain the battery. The relative thickness of typical commercially available CCC, which relies on millimeters thick packaged die, further erodes the effective energy density and resultant power supply form factor. This paper will update progress on a FlexTech Alliance funded project that demonstrated a new monolithically integrated power supply (MIPM). The MIPM integrated ITN’s novel, ultra-thin solid-state lithium battery (SSLB) with a commercially available charge control chip in bare die form to achieve a new thin, flexible power supply with a total thickness of less than 250 microns. The effort was part of a broader effort to integrate sensors and high-performance microelectronics into a novel platform that we have named a Battery with integrated Power and Sensor System (BiPASS). We will present results from the demonstration of the MIPM and key BiPASS functionality. In addition, we will present results from a new NextFlex funded project to extend ITN’s SSLB platform to address FHE with larger energy demand, i.e., Wh scale batteries. Using a similar CCC platform, the new self-charging SSLB supports the integration of a high-efficiency solar cell to both help provide power to a load and recharge the batteries in idle times. The goal is to demonstrate a power panel with 1W of solar generation capacity coupled to a 1 Wh SSLB. We will review the challenges to scale and progress against this goal.