Developed the world’s smallest battery inspired by the Swiss roll

Along with the developments in electronics, technologies to power them continue to be developed. Finally, scientists focusing on the study of much smaller objects have succeeded in developing a micro-scale battery. The research team states that they were inspired by the Swiss roll, a cake, when developing the micro battery.

Developing a micro battery inspired by cake

Chemnitz University of Technology scientists have produced the world’s smallest battery that can be used in smart powder applications (small microelectronic devices). To manufacture the battery, the research team created a layered system with inherent tension by cascading thin layers of polymeric, metallic, and dielectric materials onto a wafer surface.

The mechanical tension that takes place causes the layers of the thin-layered system to be pulled back and rolled around each other to turn into a Swiss roll architecture, forming a self-winding cylindrical micro cell. The team says this method is compatible with built-in chip fabrication technologies and allows it to fabricate high-efficiency microbatteries on a silicon wafer surface.

The created battery is significantly smaller than one square millimeter and has a minimum energy density of 100 microwatt-hours per square centimeter.

The research team states that with this method they developed, rechargeable micro batteries that can power the world’s smallest computer chips for about ten hours can be produced. Micro and nano electronic sensor and actuator technologies of the future in areas such as the Internet of Things, miniature medical implants, micro robotic systems and ultra-flexible electronics are shown as possible usage areas of these batteries.