Inelastic neutron scattering study of phonons in LiCoO2

The compound LixCoO2 has attracted lots of attention in the recent years because of its application as cathodes in Li-ion batteries. Despite being subject of intense research, role of phonon in Lithium diffusion has remained unexplored. Previous Raman scattering work, investigating the zone center phonons, was limited to powder samples. In the present proposal, we aim to investigate plausible role of phonons in triggering the lithium ion movement. We plan to investigate the phonon in the entire Brilloiin zone. To complete the proposed inelastic neutron scattering measurements of phonons (at 30 and 300 K), we need 6 days of beam time on MERLIN (to measure the phonon up to energy transfer of 140 meV).