Raman spectroscopy of isotopically pure (12C, 13C) and isotopically mixed (12.5C) diamond single crystals at ultrahigh pressures

Abstract

The Raman scattering by isotopically pure ¹²C and ¹³C diamond single crystals and by isotopically mixed ^12.5C diamond single crystals is studied at a high accuracy. The studies are performed over a wide pressure range up to 73 GPa using helium as a hydrostatic pressure-transferring medium. It is found that the quantum effects, which determine the difference between the ratio of the Raman scattering frequencies in the ¹²C and ¹³C diamonds and the classical ratio (1.0408), increase to 30 GPa and then decrease. Thus, inversion in the sign of the quantum contribution to the physical properties of diamond during compression is detected. Our data suggest that the maximum possible difference between the bulk moduli of the ¹²C and ¹³C diamonds is 0.15%. The investigation of the isotopically mixed ^12.5C diamond shows that the effective mass, which determines the Raman frequency, decreases during compression from 12.38 au at normal pressure to 12.33 au at 73 GPa.