High velocity proton collision with liquid lithium: a time dependent density functional theory study.

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Fusion Technology
• Materials Science
• Computational Physics

Background:

• Liquid lithium is a crucial coating in fusion reaction chambers, facing intense particle bombardment.
• Fundamental questions remain regarding proton impact effects and electron excitation in liquid lithium.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate proton-induced sputtering and electron excitation energy profiles in liquid lithium.
• To analyze proton energies ranging from 30 eV to 1 MeV using advanced computational methods.

Main Methods:

• Real-time dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) was employed.
• Simulations covered a wide range of proton energies (30 eV to 1 MeV).

Main Results:

• Calculated stopping power for protons in liquid lithium shows good agreement with experimental data.
• Stopping power is not adequately described by excitation spectra based on adiabatic eigen energies.
• No liquid lithium atom sputtering was observed within the simulation timeframe.

Conclusions:

• Proton impact alone does not appear to cause sputtering of liquid lithium atoms under simulated conditions.
• The electron excitation energy profile is complex and deviates from simplified models.
• Further research is needed to fully understand high-energy projectile interactions with liquid lithium.