Cation and anion dynamics in the fast-ion conducting rotor phase of 7Li2SO4

Complete text of publication follows. At 848 K, lithium sulfate undergoes a first-order phase transition. The high-temperature cubic a phase is a good cation conductor. At the same time, the oxo-anions are rotationally disordered. There has been a long debate about whether and how the rapid anion reorientation might enhance the canon transport through the crystal. We have performed quasielastic neutron scattering experiments on 7Li2SO4 in order to examine both anion and cation dynamics in this material. At Q < 1.2 A-1, the quasielastic linewidth varies as DQ2 where D represents the Li tracer diffusion coefficient. At higher Q, we find a wave-like structure with linewidth maxima at 1.4 A-1 and 2.5 A-1 and a minimum at 1.9 A-1. This behavior is typical of coherent diffusion (7Li scatters both coherently and incoherently). We also see, at higher Q, a (coherent) quasielastic contribution from the oxygen nuclei due to the anion reorientation. Oxygen scattering is also found in the sodium cation conducting rotor phase of Na3PO4 where it is the predominant quasielastic component. Since the quasielastic scattering of 7Li2SO4 contains both cation and anion contributions, we perform classical molecular dynamics studies based on pair potentials from the literature. Results of these simulations are compared to the experimental dynamic structure factors. (author)