telcordia.com
Our Place in Telecom History:
Information & Energy Storage
Early Physical Sciences Research
Information and Energy Storage
The Research behind the Lithium Ion Battery
The Commercialization of the Lithium Battery
Early Physical Sciences Research at Bellcore:
In 1984, when Bellcore was formed, the Physical Sciences Area of Applied Research formulated its charter around themes which were essential for telecommunications. Fiber optics was becoming ubiquitous, and high-speed transmission was essential to its fast growth. As a result, a strong effort was launched in pushing the frontiers of optoelectronics. Out of this effort came a number of significant breakthroughs, both in discrete devices and integrated optoelectronic circuit. Some of the breakthroughs have already found their way into communications: the uncooled laser, for example, an ingenious device with artificially structured layers which can sustain a stable wavelength of emission over a wide range of temperatures without additional cooling; and laser arrays, a series of lasers grown simultaneously which emit at different wavelengths, an essential part of the Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology. The impact of some other breakthroughs are yet to come; for example, the world's first Surface-Emitting Laser was achieved at Bellcore. Surface emitting lasers (as opposed to the edge-emitting lasers used today), provide exciting opportunities for the simultaneous launching of massive amounts of data (information) into multiple fibers.
Top
Information and Energy Storage:
Two other areas of early interest and focus were Information Storage (memory technologies) and Energy Storage (batteries). While less visible than fibers, fiber amplifiers and lasers, both topics were nonetheless crucial to the day-to-day operation of the network and its future growth. A massive amount of information is handled every day in communications, and at the end of each day, a good part of it is archivally stored. On the energy storage front, the de-centralization of the network (away from central offices) made it necessary to have hundreds of thousands of remote backup power sources (batteries) throughout the communications network to assure its survival and continuing operation in times of power failure. The goal of research in both these areas was to look for revolutionary ways to store both information and energy. In the information storage arena, out of Bellcore's research came a revolutionary new approach to create non-volatile memories (memories which, unlike silicon-based DRAMs do not need power backup and constant refreshing) based on ferroelectric materials. Telcordia has a strong intellectual property portfolio (patents and technology know-how), and is engaged in its commercialization. On the energy storage front, the inventive work of a few researchers eventually led to a breakthrough, revolutionary technology which takes the lithium-ion electrochemistry, a proven electrochemistry, and puts it into solid form, creating a totally new, revolutionary way of making batteries. Telcordia is aggressively and very successfully licensing this technology.
Top
The Research Behind the Lithium Ion Battery:
The road to the technological breakthrough is a perfect example of what can happen when people with multi-disciplinary backgrounds work together. The scientific aspects of the technology were invented and refined by Jean-Marie Tarascon, one of the world's foremost solid state chemists, whose intellect is the engine behind this technology. When the technology had taken form, the nagging question was, "How can we be different than everybody else?" The breakthrough occurred when Paul Warren, a chemist with many years of experience in plasticized materials, both at Bell Labs and at Bellcore, pointed out that it was common practice in other industries to entrap liquids in plasticized, polymeric matrices. This idea sparked an avalanche of excitement amongst the members of this small group. Tony Gozdz, a polymer expert, was enlisted to seek polymeric materials that could act as hosts for the components comprising the battery. A period of exciting research followed, and in the course of a few months, appropriate materials were found that opened a new chapter in the way of making batteries. The components of the battery: cathode, separator, anode can now be made with the same plasticized copolymers (and the appropriate cathode and anode materials) in sheets as wide as 7 feet, and thousands of feet long. Out of these sheets, batteries of any size, any shape, and any capacity can be constructed. The new technology has 3 distinct characteristics: high energy density, light weight, and the form factor (the capability to make batteries of any shape). As more people were brought into the small group, there followed an intense period of research and development in the next year and a half, that rounded up scientific and technological aspects of this breakthrough.
Top
The Commercialization of the Lithium Battery
The Lithium Ion Battery technology was announced in a press conference in New York on March 15, 1994, by Vassilis G. Keramidas, Jean-Marie Tarascon and other members of the group. From its beginning, it was enthusiastically received by battery manufacturers, as well as others who saw the importance of a light-weight battery technology with shape and form flexibility as the fields of portable communications (cellular phones) and computers (laptops) were beginning to take off. On January 1, 1995, a semi-autonomous, small business unit was formed within Applied Research, and intensified the technology commercialization effort. As the technology was licensed to corporate entities worldwide, a small group of researchers continued to strengthen the intellectual property package on which the technology is based. To date, the Bellcore intellectual property package portfolio consists of more than 200 issued and pending patents worldwide, a technology know-how package that covers every aspect of the manufacturing of batteries. Telcordia licensees are in Europe, the United States, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and soon in India and China. Three Telcordia licensees, two in the United States and one in Malaysia have already provided product prototypes, and a number of others have sampled their product to potential users and are poised to begin production in early 1999. As the licensing program continues to grow, the small Telcordia group, led by Glenn Amatucci, continues to refine the technology, providing technology updates to existing licensees. In addition, the group looks into the future for breakthroughs that are going to take the technology to the next level and enhance its value. The future seems very promising and exciting.
|
