Rapid online solid-state battery diagnostics with optically pumped magnetometers

TL;DR

This paper introduces a rapid, portable, and cost-effective method using atomic magnetometry to diagnose solid-state batteries by measuring magnetic fields related to defects, charge, and aging.

Contribution

It demonstrates the application of atomic magnetometers for fast, sensitive, and portable diagnostics of solid-state batteries, offering an alternative to SQUID-based systems.

Findings

Magnetic fields reveal battery defects and aging.

Atomic magnetometry offers a low-cost, portable solution.

The method provides rapid battery diagnostics.

Abstract

Solid state battery technology is motivated by the desire to deliver flexible power storage in a safe and efficient manner. The increasingly widespread use of batteries from mass-production facilities highlights the need for a rapid and sensitive diagnostic for identifying battery defects. We demonstrate the use of atomic magnetometry to measure the magnetic fields around miniature solid-state battery cells. These fields encode information about battery manufacturing defects, state of charge, impurities, or can provide important insights into ageing processes. Compared with SQUID-based magnetometry, the availability of atomic magnetometers, however, highlights the possibility for a low-cost, portable, and flexible implementation of battery quality-control and characterization technology.