Spectroscopic Evidence for Large (≫1μm) Lithium-Colloid Creation in Electron-Irradiated Li2O Single Crystals

We have created lithium metal colloids by electron-irradiating single crystals of lithium oxide near 0 °C. The striking feature is the observation of two kinds of colloids manifesting themselves as two EPR metallic lines, the narrow line corresponding to small metallic clusters (size $<1\mathrm{}\mu \mathrm{m}$) and the broad one associated with large metallic colloids visible by optical microscopy ( $\sim 20\mu \mathrm{m}$). The latter are also observed by NMR. A further indication for the presence of colloids of different types is the differing recovery behavior of the two EPR lines in an annealing treatment.