Pressure-tuning spectroscopy of inorganic compounds: a summary of the past15 years

Since its development over 40 years ago, the diamond-anvil cell has been wi dely used to study the high-pressure behavior of numerous materials and com pounds. Pressures from a few kbar to a Mbar can easily be achieved and the transparent diamonds provide an optical window for in-situ measurements. Pr essure-tuning spectroscopy allows researchers to examine the effect of decr eased inter- and intramolecular and atomic distances and the resultant orbi tal perturbations. This review summarizes some interesting results of press ure-tuning infrared, Raman and electronic spectroscopic studies for a varie ty of inter- and intramolecular interactions including metal-CO pi-backbond ing, metal-metal interactions in dimers, clusters, and one-dimensional comp ounds, order-disorder transitions of CH3 and NH3 ligands and hydrogen bondi ng. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.