Raman spectra of La(0.75)Ca(0.25)MnO(3) have been collected for the first time over a wide pressure range (0-14 GPa) using a diamond anvil cell. The frequency range explored (200-1100 cm(-1)) and the very good quality of the data allowed us to carefully analyze the pressure evolution of the phonon modes of the MnO(6) octahedra. The results show an abrupt transition at approximately 7.5 GPa with an evident deviation from the linear trend of the frequency of the Jahn-Teller phonon versus the applied pressure, accompanied by a strong phonon broadening. This behavior disagrees with the predicted insulator to metal transition and, on the contrary, indicates the occurrence of a new unpredicted phase in the very high pressure regime.

Raman and infrared absorption spectra of Mg1−xAlxB2 have been collected for 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5 in the spectral range of optical phonons. The x-dependence of the peak frequency, the width and the intensity of the observed Raman lines has been carefully analized. A peculiar x-dependence of the optical modes is pointed out for two different Al doping ranges. In particular the onset of the high-doping structural phase previously observed in diffraction measurements is marked by the appearence of new spectral components at high frequencies. A connection between the whole of our results and the observed suppression of superconductivity in the high doping region is established.The recent discovery 1 of superconductivity below 39 K in MgB 2 has stimulated a great deal of effort among the scientific community and a large number of theoretical and experimental papers have been published within few months. The debate on the origin of this unexpected superconductivity is still open, although both experimental 2-4 and theoretical 5-7 works indicate that MgB 2 is a BCS-like system. In this framework, the obvious relevant interaction in the superconducting transition is the electron-phonon (e-ph) coupling. Owing to the simple hexagonal structure (space group P 6 mmm), four zone-center optical modes are predicted for MgB 2 : a silent B 1g mode, the E 2g Raman mode, and the infrared active E 2u and A 2u modes. While the doubly-degenerate E 2u and E 2g modes are ascribed to in-plane stretching modes of the boron atoms, both non-degenerate A 2u and B 1g modes involve vibrations along the perpendicular direction (c axis). It is quite a general statement that the E 2g mode is expected to allow for the strongest e-ph coupling 5-7 and then to play a relevant role in superconductivity. Raman experiments 8-12 carried out on MgB 2 have shown that the spectrum is dominated by a quite large and asymmetric band around 600 cm −1 , ascribed to the E 2g mode. The anomalous width of this phonon peak has been interpreted as a signature of the e-ph coupling.Up to now, no other isostructural boride (XB 2 ) has shown the peculiar high temperature superconductivity of MgB 2 . In particular, MgAl 2 is not superconducting. Indeed, several studies on the Mg 1−x Al x B 2 compounds have shown that superconductivity is progressively suppressed for increasing x and vanishes for x>0.5. [13][14][15] In order to achieve a deeper understanding of the effects of Al doping, we have studied the evolution of the phonon spectrum of Mg 1−x Al x B 2 in the 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5 range by means of both Raman and infrared spectroscopy.Pure MgB 2 and Al doped polycrystalline samples have been synthesized at high temperature by direct reaction of the elements in a tantalum crucible under argon atmosphere. The samples, which show an average grain dimension around 1-2µm, have been characterized by xray diffraction and by resistivity measurements, in order to determine, in particular, the x-dependence of the superconductivity transition temperature T c . 14,16 .The Raman spectra were measure...

An extended temperature and pressure-dependent investigation is carried out on a La0.75Ca0.25MnO3 sample exploiting the infrared absorption technique coupled to a diamond anvil cell. The pressure dependence of the insulator to metal transition temperature T(IM) is determined for the first time up to 11.2 GPa. The T(IM)(P) curve we propose to model the present data has an exponential-like behavior with an associated characteristic pressure P* playing the role of a decay constant. It is found that the equivalence between an external and an internal (chemical) pressure holds over a limited range of pressure, namely, P< or =2P*. Moreover, a certain universality character is associated with the proposed model curve in its ability to account for a large class of low-disorder manganites characterized by intermediate electron-phonon coupling.

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A detailed study of the pressure-induced phase transitions in amorphous Ge ͑a-Ge͒ up to 17 GPa is reported combining Raman scattering, x-ray absorption spectroscopy ͑XAS͒ measurements, and density-functional theory calculations. a-Ge samples were films obtained by evaporation and characterized by different density of voids. Specific and reproducible phase transitions ͑interpreted as disorder-disorder, disorder-order, and order-disorder͒ are observed on pressurization and depressurization, depending on the initial density of voids. Details of the structural and vibrational properties of the various phases have been obtained by XAS and Ramanscattering data analysis. Samples showing a low density of voids transform first into a metallic disordered phase ͑8 GPa͒ and to GeII at higher pressures while those with higher density of voids transform directly to the GeII phase ͑10.6 GPa͒. Upon depressurization, the first nucleates into the GeIII metastable phase in the 7.2-2.3 GPa pressure range, while the others return to the amorphous state below 5 GPa. The behavior upon depressurization shows that the initial morphology determines the transitions experienced by the pressurized sample down to ambient pressure.