Investigation of the lithium-nitrogen melt microstructure by neutron diffraction

The microstructure of Li-N melts with nitrogen impurity contents of 1.3 and 3.5 at % has been investigated by neutron diffraction. The main microstructural characteristic of the material (total structure factor) and the partial structure factors of the melt components and the radial distribution functions of particles have been obtained. It is established that there is no prepeak in the structure factor of Li-N melts, which indicates the existence of clusters of a certain size in the melt. Analysis of the partial structural characteristics suggests the existence of nitrogen impurity in Li-N melts in the form of lithium nitride Li3N.