Formation Mechanism and Binding Energy for Regular Tetrahedral Structure of Li4

The formation mechanism for the regular tetrahedral structure of Li4 cluster is proposed. The curve of the total energy versus the separation R between the two nuclei has been calculated by using the method of Gou's modified arrangement channel quantum mechanics (MACQM). The result shows that the curve has a minimal energy of -29.8279 a.u. at R = 14.50 a0. When R approaches infinity the total energy of four lithium atoms has the value of -29.7121 a.u. So the binding energy of Li4 with respect to four lithium atoms is the difference of 0.1158 a.u.for the above two energy values. Therefore the binding energy per atom for Li4 is 0.029 a.u., or 0.7878 eV, which is greater than the binding energy per atom of 0.453 eV for Li2, the binding energy per atom of 0.494 eV for Li3 and the binding energy per atom of 0.632 eV for Li5 calculated previously by us. This means that the Li4 cluster may be formed stably in a regular tetrahedral structure of side length R = 14.50 a0 with a greater binding energy.