Sputtering (in particular radio-frequency magnetron sputtering) has been applied to the fabrication of LAGP thin-films starting from a LAGP target. Depending on the temperature of the substrate during the deposition, LAGP can be deposited in the cold sputtering or hot sputtering configuration.
The film stoichiometry and microstructure can be tuned by controlling the deposition parameters, especially the power density, the chamber pressure, and the substrate temperature. Both amorphous and crystalline films are obtained, with a typical thickness around 1 μm. The room-temperature ionic conductivity and the activation energy of sputtered and annealed LAGP films are comparable with those of bulk pellets, i.e. 10 S/cm and 0.31 eV.