Depositing a Titanium Coating on the Lithium Neutron Production Target by Magnetron Sputtering Technology.

Lithium (Li) is one of the commonly used target materials for compact accelerator-based neutron source (CANS) to generate neutrons by Li(p, n)7 Be reaction. To avoid neutron yield decline caused by lithium target reacting with the air, a titanium (Ti) coating was deposited on the lithium target by magnetron sputtering technology. The color change processes of coated and bare lithium samples in the air were observed and compared to infer the chemical state of lithium qualitatively.