1.1 The Sonnenschein Lithium

Sonnenschein Lithium was founded in 1984, with plant facilities at Büdingen near Frankfurt, Germany. The creation of the company was preceded by a transfer of know-how agreement with prestigious partner firms and several years of market experience. Today, the company is one of the leading manufacturers in the European market for lithium thionyl chloride batteries.

Research and Development has been a decisive factor in establishing the company's leadership position. Environment-friendly manufacturing processes, continuous improvement and constant enhancement of the battery system as well as the specialization in lithium batteries help to strengthen the competitive edge of Sonnenschein Lithium's customers in their respective markets and ensure the availability of reliable power supplies for their electronic products, today and in the future.

As one of the first battery manufacturers, Sonnenschein Lithium has obtained ISO 9001 certification of the quality management system in 1993 and ISO 14001 certification of the environmental management system in 1999.

Close co-operation with the customer during the design phase is part of the company's basic philosophy. Sonnenschein Lithium offers comprehensive support from experienced specialists, and is committed to securing its position as a market leader and a competent, reliable technology partner.

1.2 The Sonnenschein Lithium Battery

The scope of this Technical Brochure are inorganic lithium batteries of the Li/SOCl2 system.

The Sonnenschein Lithium Battery is a power source that is suited to the requirements of the new generation in microelectronics. For example, CMOS memories as well as utility meters require a lightweight power source providing safe and reliable performance over a wide range of environmental conditions, for long periods of time.

The Sonnenschein Lithium Battery is a component that can be permanently connected to a circuit, in many cases for the lifetime of the equipment. Its major advantages are:

High cell voltage
The battery has an open-circuit voltage of 3.67 V and an operating voltage of 3.60 V, which are considerably higher than in any other commercially available primary battery.

Wide temperature range
The batteries are capable of operation in a wide temperature range normally from -55 °C to +85°C. One series has an extended temperature range up to 130°C. See paragraph 2.10 for more details.

High energy density
The electrochemical system exhibits the highest energy density of any available primary battery: up to 650 Wh/kg and 1280 Wh/dm3.

Superior shelf life and reliability
The Sonnenschein Lithium Battery has an outstandingly long shelf life and reliability. Tests have shown that storage for ten years at room temperature results in a capacity loss of less than 1 % per year Failure rates in memory back-up applications were found to be below 200 fit (fit: failures in time. 1 fit = 1 failure in 109 component hours); this corresponds to 0.175 % per year.

Safety
The safety of the Sonnenschein Lithium Battery design has been proven by almost 20 years of experience in the market and more than 50 millions of batteries in the field with no reported incidents. The complete line of products is recognized and regularly supervised by Underwriters Laboratories.

Hermetically sealed case
The hermetically sealed case is essential for the long shelf life and inherent safety of the devices in which the batteries are used. The cover is welded to the can. A glass-to-metal seal is used to insulate the positive terminal.

1.3 Comparison to Other Systems

The lithium thionyl chloride battery system is superior when it comes to long-term applications with demanding reliability, space, and energy requirements. Figure 1-1 shows the output voltage over discharge capacity per unit volume for various lithium battery systems and alkaline batteries. The area under each discharge curve corresponds to the energy density of the respective battery system and thus gives an answer to the question: "How long will my product operate with battery system X if I can spare a certain space Y".

For reliable long-term operation under varying environmental conditions, a reliable sealing method is essential. A note on the sealing method of each system is given in the legend of figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1 Comparison of different battery systems. The curves represent typical best values of commercial cylindrical cells when discharged at 25 °C with the 1000 hour rate. The area under the curves corresponds to the energy density listed below. The list also gives a note on the sealing method 1 Li/SOCl2 1280 Wh/dm3 hermetically welded 2 Li/SO2 430 Wh/dm3 hermetically welded 3 Li/CFx 550 Wh/dm3 crimped elastomer seal 4 Li/MnO2 580 Wh/dm3 crimped elastomer seal or hermetically welded 5 Li/FeS2 450 Wh/dm3 crimped elastomer seal 6 Alkaline 280 Wh/dm3 crimped elastomer seal

1.4 Customer Benefits

Sonnenschein Lithium has focused its ongoing efforts on promoting the understanding and further development of lithium batteries. This determination offers to the customer a number of decisive benefits such as:

• Access to over twenty years of experience in research and development, production and marketing
• Adaptability and reliability in meeting rapidly evolving customer needs
• Detailed technical support in terms of design and application - before, during and after the purchase
• Highly qualified experts available for support on short notice
• Customized production of single- and multi-cell batteries to meet specific requirements
• Reliable delivery, secured by contractual agreements and second sourcing.

For successful use of a battery, the co-operation between the supplier and the customer must commence the earliest possible point: at times it is simply more economical to design a circuit for the characteristics of the best suitable energy supply, rather than having to forgo its advantages because it is too late for changes.

1.5 Applications

Because of their unique characteristics, Sonnenschein Lithium Batteries for many years have been used successfully for CMOS memory chips and a wide range of devices. Recently, there is a tendency towards the use of lithium batteries as autonomous pulse-operated
power supplies - often in conjunction with highly demanding temperature profiles.

Following is a list of applications for Sonnenschein Lithium Batteries. Table 1-2 lists the application oriented market segments and indicates the most suitable
Sonnenschein Lithium Battery series.

Office Automation
RTC in personal computers, memory back-up, computer terminals, intelligent interfaces, point-of-sale terminals, word processors, intelligent typewriters, address printers, envelope franking machines, cash points, cash registers, weighing machines, copy machines.

Instrumentation

Vending Machines
Ticket vending machines, newspaper vending machines, cigarette vending machines, sweets vending machines, drink vending machines, parking meters, coin and bank note testing equipment.

High End Consumer
Audio and video memory back-up and RTC, video games, gambling machines, SCUBA diving meters,
altimeters, marine electronics, ski bindings, portable timing units for sport events, pigeon flight time recorders.

Distress and Navigation
Radio distress beacons, emergency locating transmitters (ELT), distress beacons, rescue VHF/UHF radios, communication radios, global positioning system (GPS) equipment, mobile satellite communication links, avalanche rescue transmitters, life jacket emergency lights, maritime light buoys, deep sea hazard warning indicators.

Offshore
Stationary sub-sea-level battery packs, platform emergency battery packs, diving bell life support, warning flash lights.

Various
Industrial clocks, pulse-/event-counters, high voltage power line fault detectors, remote data logging and data acquisition systems, seismic measurement equipment, oceanographic measurement equipment, biotelemetry, telemetry equipment, weather balloon transmitters, automatic weather monitoring stations, compass illumination, caliper pigs for pipeline maintenance, oscilloscopes, medical instruments, gauges.

Program Logic Control
Numeric and process control, heat meters, gas storage telemetry, computer integrated manufacturing (CIM), mobile data carriers /coded tags, temperature controllers, heat control installations.

Telecommunication
Intelligent telephones, car phones, credit card phones, multiplexers, switchboards (PABX), mobile phone terminals, modems, ISDN terminals, telex and telefax machines, pagers, intercom systems.

Utility Meters
Electricity meters, gas meters, heating cost allocation devices, water meters, calorimeters, automatic meter reading (AMR).

Military Electronics
Night vision equipment, cryptographs, radio frequency channel selectors, sonar buoys/pingers, underwater detectors, AT mines, advanced sea mines, smart AA fuzes, intelligent gun and mortar ammunition, missile systems, range finders, target acquisition equipment, portable flashlight beacons for runways.

Security Systems
Door lockers, security and alarm systems, smoke and other sensors and detectors, burglar alarm systems.

	Table 1-2 List of market segments for Sonnenschein Lithium Batteries The suitability is classified on a general basis and does not necessarily hold for each individual application	++ preferred + recommended o possible - less suited -- not recommended