System, method and apparatus for forming a thin film lithium ion battery

1. A battery comprising:

a substrate;

a first current collector formed on the substrate;

a cathode layer formed on a portion of the first current collector;

a layer of solid electrolyte material formed on the cathode layer;

a thin film anode layer formed on the layer of solid electrolyte material, wherein the thin film anode layer includes a plurality of adjacent pairs of alternating layers of material, wherein each pair of alternating layers includes a first layer and a second layer, wherein the first layer consists of silicon, and wherein the second layer includes a non-silicon material and wherein the non-silicon material is different in two or more of the second layers; and

a second current collector electrically coupled to the thin film anode layer.

2. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the non-silicon material includes at least one of carbon, tin, silver, aluminum, indium, titanium, thallium, copper, or any combination thereof.

3. The battery of claim 1 , wherein each pair of alternating layers has a thickness of between about 2 nanometers and about 500 nanometers.

4. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the first layer of each pair has a thickness of between about 1 nanometer and about 499 nanometers.

5. The battery of claim 4 , wherein the second layer of each pair of alternating layers has a thickness of between about 1 nanometer and about 499 nanometers.

6. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the thin film anode layer includes a ratio composition of between about 1% to about 99% of silicon and of between about 99% to about 1% of the non-silicon material.

7. The battery of claim 1 , wherein a sum of the thickness of the first current collector, the cathode layer, the layer of solid electrolyte material and the thin film anode layer is between about 3 micrometers to about 50 micrometers.

8. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the thin film anode layer has a thickness of between about 2 micrometers and about 10 micrometers.

9. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the solid electrolyte layer has a thickness of between about 0.50 micrometers to about 10 micrometers.

10. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a flexible substrate.

11. A method of forming a thin film battery comprising:

forming a first current collector on a substrate;

forming a cathode layer on the first current collector;

forming a solid electrolyte layer on the cathode layer;

forming a thin film anode layer on the solid electrolyte layer, wherein forming the thin film anode layer includes:

forming, at a first processing station, a first layer on the electrolyte layer, wherein the first layer consists of silicon;

transporting, after forming the first layer, the substrate from the first processing station to a second processing station;

forming, at the second processing station, a second layer on the first layer, wherein the second layer includes a first non-silicon material;

transporting, after forming the second layer, the substrate from the second processing station to the first processing station;

forming, at the first processing station, a third layer on the second layer, wherein the third layer consists of silicon;

transporting, after forming the third layer, the substrate from the first processing station to the second processing station; and

forming, at the second processing station, a fourth layer on the third layer, wherein the fourth layer includes a second non-silicon material that is different from the first non-silicon material; and

coupling the thin film anode layer to a second current collector.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first layer and the second layer have a combined thickness of between about 2 nanometers and about 500 nanometers.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first processing station and the second processing station are included in a single processing chamber having a first source configured to supply silicon to the first processing station, a second source configured to supply the non-silicon material to the second processing station, and a transport system configured to transport the substrate between the first processing station and the second processing station in an alternating manner.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first processing station and the second processing station are included in a rotary processing chamber having a first source configured to supply silicon to the first processing station, a second source configured to supply the non-silicon material to the second processing station, and a rotary transport system configured to transport the substrate between the first processing station and the second processing station in an alternating manner.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the non-silicon material includes at least one of carbon, tin, silver, aluminum, indium, titanium, thallium, copper, or any combination thereof.