High-pressure Raman scattering of the stretching mode in nitrogen along the 300-K isotherm

We present Raman scattering studies of the vibrational band of nitrogen at room temperature between 1 and 31 GPa allowing a detailed line-shape analysis. For the fluid and \ensuremath{\beta} phases the vibrational linewidths compare to dephasing rates ${\mathit{T}}_{2}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$ determined by experiments in the time domain. The \ensuremath{\delta}-\ensuremath{\epsilon} transition is unmistakably marked by a drop of the vibrational linewidths around 17 GPa. A further transition into the \ensuremath{\eta} phase around 20 GPa proposed from previous Raman results can be ruled out. Additionally, clear evidence is found for a dynamical freezing of the ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$ molecule…