Patent ID: 9267904
Filing Date: 2016-02-23
CPC Classification: G01N,H01J,H01M,Y02E

Claim Text:
1. A method of analyzing a film on a surface of an electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery comprising: pretreating a sample comprising the film on the surface of the electrode in an inert chamber and controlling the amount of moisture and oxygen in an inert atmosphere in the inert chamber; transporting the sample into a first analyzer to obtain composition and thickness information of the film in the first analyzer; transporting the sample into the inert chamber and assembling an inert holder around the sample in the inert chamber; ion etching the sample in the first analyzer before transporting the sample to the inert chamber; and transporting the inert holder to a second analyzer to obtain shape information of the film in the second analyzer, wherein the first analyzer is an X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS), wherein the second analyzer is a high resolution scanning electron microscope, wherein an ion beam having a tilted angle relative to the surface of the sample is emitted during the ion etching, wherein the ion beam has an accelerating voltage in a range of about 0.3 kV to about 0.5 kV and a current condition in a range of about 0.2 μA to about 0.5 μA, and wherein the ion etching is performed until the electrode material under the film approaches about 50 to about 70 atom % based on the total amount of the electrode material prior to the ion etching.