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by jason mcdonald, senior editor | read other blog posts

thin film battery technology is the newest new thing in batteries. for many embedded systems, this allows new applications that can almost operate 'indefinitely' without the need for a new battery. in addition, 'energy harvesting' applications can work hand-in-hand with thin film batteries to move your application into areas like embedded sensor networks where having 'constant power' can be a real competitive advantage.

contents of this post:

1. thin film batteries - has the revolution come?
2. thin film batteries - market leaders
3. evaluation kits and demos
4. feedback - read it
5. feedback - give it

thin film batteries - has the revolution come?

As many know, power is a huge problem area in embedded systems. Developers spend much of their time these days on trying to reduce the power needed by applications. The flip side of the need to reduce power is the constraint imposed on a system by its battery. Battery technology, to be blunt, has not advanced at nearly the pace that micrprocessor technology has. Consequently, designers of embedded systems are forced to go to great lengths to conserve power.

A revolution in battery technology, however, might be approaching 'take off.' Building on technologies initially developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a few vendors have begun to commercialize 'thin film battery' technology. These batteries are not only thin, but flexible, and can be so small as to enable many new (or better applications) not just in a mobile environment but also in the burgeoning world of embedded sensors (think Zigbee). Another cross pollinator here is 'energy harvesting' (See our Podcast interview with Adrian Valenzuela of Texas Instruments, here .)

First of all, what are 'thin film batteries?' Here is a defition from a marketing blurb courtesy of Frost & Sullivan:

Thin-film batteries have solid-state construction, which includes a solid substrate of electrolyte cathode (positive electrode) and anode (negative electrode), compared to a liquid/gel type electrolyte in conventional vehicles. Owing to this solid state structure, these batteries could withstand wide temperature range of -20 degree Celsius to 140 degree Celsius. Layers of cathode and anode are deposited through evaporation methods or spluttering mechanisms, which are normally used in semiconductor manufacturing process. Based on the substrate and type of packaging, thickness of a thin-film battery ranges from 0.35 to 0.62mm Thin Film Batteries, Explore (20 February 2009)

We have just begun indexing all sorts of advanced battery issues on eg3.com, here - so if you are interested in advanced batteries or thin film batteries in embedded systems, bookmark that page for updates. Here is a list of the big advantages we see in thin film battery technology:

1. Size - they can be very small and very thin, helping you to reduce an application's physical size.
2. Power - compared to traditional alternatives, they can help you 'harvest energy' or stay in the field longer; in some cases when combined with 'energy harvesting' they can make your device stay in the field almost indefinitely, or at least 'outlive' the application.
3. Temperature - they work in a very broad range of temperatures, making them ideal for many ruggedized applications.
4. Ecofriendly - compared with traditional batteries, thin film batteries may be less toxic to the environment.

You can read a thorough overview to the technology from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, here .

thin film batteries - market leaders

At the recent Embedded Systems Conference, San Jose, two of the market leaders were present. I had the privilege of speaking to reprentatives of both. Their technologies are different, and I encourage you to look at each company if your application might benefit from thin film battery technology. Here are summaries:

• Cymbet Corporation - Cymbet Corporation, a clean technology company, is a leader in thin-film, solid-state battery technology. The company is the first to market a true solid-state energy system enabling new embedded systems designer capabilities. The company's thin-film battery system will enable new concepts in battery application for ICs and new products for medical, sensor, RFID, communications and portable electronic devices.

• Planar Energy Devices - Planar Energy Devices is a venture backed technology company that designs and manufactures high energy density 'solid state' thin-film and large format batteries for commercial and OEM applications. Planar's technology platform enables a new generation of lithium batteries that are safe, compact, and can be deployed in very flexibe arrangements. Planar's systematic approach to addressing traditional lithium battery solutions has...

• Infinite Power Solutions - Infinite Power Solutions, Inc. (IPS), a privately-held venture backed technology company near Denver, Colorado, is the global leader in developing and manufacturing solid-state, rechargeable thin-film batteries (TFBs) for micro-electronic applications. IPS has moved beyond R&D and commenced operations on the world’s first high-volume production line for TFBs in Littleton, Colorado.

All share in common a focus on 'thin film battery' technology, but their technical approaches differ. What I suggest is that you ping each and begin an active discussion to compare and contrast their companies and technologies, so that you can figure out the best technology partner. In addition, pay attention to 'energy harvesting' as many of their best applications go hand-in-hand with small microprocessors like the 8051, Atmel AVR, or TI MSP430.

evaluation kits and demos

Among new market trends, the trend towards 'energy harvesting' and thin film batteries has been one to embrace evaluation kits. Fortunately, many of these companies are partnering with the big semiconductor firms to create easy-to-use, inexpensive evaluation kits and demos of their technology.

As said, one of the best comes from Texas Instruments for their MSP430. You can listen to our podcast interview, here plus that page has links to the evaluation kit.

You can watch a nice Youtube video on Planar Energy Devices ' technology here . Cymbet has a complete page of available evaluation kits, here . Some of the other vendors do not seem to have online links to evaluation kits or demo's, but if their technology sounds appealing be sure to email or call them, and ask.

After all, this is a new technology entering the 'deployment phase' in an exciting way. The trick now is not just to know about it but to customize it to fit your application in a new, exciting, and innovative way.

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Express Logic develops, markets and supports the ThreadX® real-time operating system (RTOS), NetX™ TCP/IP networking stack, USBX™ USB stack, and FileX® embedded file system, and PrismX™ GUI toolkit for embedded applications. ThreadX is a royalty-free, full source code, small-footprint, low-overhead RTOS that is extremely easy to learn and use. ThreadX is one of the most widely deployed RTOS products in the world, with over 800 million products based on ThreadX.