Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT have developed a method to ablate the anode material of lithium-ion batteries quickly, reliably and without damage using ultra-short pulsed laser radiation. This ablation process exposes the electrical contact points, known as tabs.
An important production step for lithium-ion batteries is the coating of the metallic carrier foil with the active material. This is a wafer-thin coating that is applied as a paste to the copper or aluminum foil, which is just a few micrometers thick. Due to the subsequent electrical contacting of the electrodes via so-called tabs, some areas of the metal foil must remain uncoated. The current process is very time-consuming.
