ST, French tech org team on mini energy sources

STMicroelectronics and CEA, a French public technological research organization, have signed an agreement to collaborate on the development of new miniaturized energy sources solutions.

The companies will establish a common laboratory in Tours and Grenoble, France that will pursue advanced research in fields such as solid-state microbatteries that promise longer life, greater safety and lower environmental burden than existing battery technologies, and micro-fuel cells for clean energy generation. Other promising energy generation, conversion and storage technologies that will be investigated include thermoelectric and mechanical scavenging techniques that convert, for example, physical motion into electrical power, always with a focus on low-power applications.

ST, which has a major manufacturing facility in Tours, and CEA Liten (Laboratory of Innovation for New Energy Technologies and Nanomaterials), a research laboratory of CEA based in Grenoble, France, will collaborate on a four-year program to develop new miniaturized technologies for energy solutions with a particular emphasis on powering mobile phones, laptop computers and other portable electronic products. The collaboration will involve more than 50 researchers, distributed approximately between sites in Grenoble and Tours.

The joint research team will work on a variety of projects. These include micro-fuel cells specifically designed to power mobile phones using fuel that can be topped up at any time, thin-film microbatteries for use in applications such as "smart labels," which are expected to replace existing barcode technology and RFID tags, and the development of new energy scavenging technologies.

These new technologies, many of which will exploit ST's expertise in manufacturing using extremely thin films of materials, are expected to bring multiple benefits in terms of lower cost, size or weight, as well as providing more environment-friendly solutions that will be widely welcomed by consumers. Thin, solid-state microbatteries will also open up new opportunities in areas such as medical implants where replacing or recharging conventional batteries is difficult or impossible.

"The proliferation of portable devices has created a huge demand for energy sources such as rechargeable batteries but existing solutions still leave room for improvements in terms of performance, operating life and environmental impact. We believe that the complementary skills of ST and CEA Liten will lead to the development and industrialization of cost-effective new technologies that will meet these challenges," said Carmelo Papa, executive VP and general manager of ST's industrial and multisegment sector.