Li_1+xAl_xGe_2-x(PO₄)₃ (LAGP) thin films have been grown on sapphire substrates by RF magnetron sputtering and post annealing. The effects of varying sputtering parameters such as power and pressure were studied, and the deposited films were characterized to investigate how the ionic conductivity values depend on the microstructure. The composition of as-sputtered films was found to be more strongly influenced by power than the pressure. The films deposited at lower powers, which results in lower deposition rates, have compositions similar to that of the target. Heating the substrates during deposition is found to minimise the formation of pinhole defects in films subsequently annealed at higher temperatures. Post annealing leads to a gradual transformation from the as-sputtered amorphous phase to crystalline LAGP thin films. At high annealing temperatures (above 700 °C) both porosity and the GeO₂ impurity phase appear in the films and result in lower ionic conductivities. We have optimised the processing conditions to achieve ionic conductivities in excess of 10⁻⁴ Scm⁻¹ and activation energies as low as 0.31 eV in films only 1 μm thick, suggesting that LAGP could offer attractive properties as a thin film battery electrolyte material.

Li _{1 + x} Al _x Ge _2-x（PO ₄）₃（LAGP）薄膜已通过RF磁控管溅射和后退火在蓝宝石衬底上生长。研究了诸如功率和压力等溅射参数的影响，并对沉积膜进行了表征，以研究离子电导率值如何取决于微观结构。发现溅射薄膜的组成受功率的影响比受压力的影响更大。以较低功率沉积的膜导致较低的沉积速率，其成分与靶材的成分相似。发现在沉积过程中加热基板可以最大程度地减少随后在较高温度下退火的膜中针孔缺陷的形成。后退火导致从溅射后的非晶相逐渐转变为结晶LAGP薄膜。膜中出现_2个杂质相，导致较低的离子电导率。我们优化了处理条件，以在仅1μm厚的膜中实现超过10 ^-4 Scm ^-1的离子电导率和低至0.31 eV的活化能，这表明LAGP作为薄膜电池电解质材料可以提供诱人的性能。