Triple point on the melting curve and polymorphism of nitrogen at high pressure

Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Aug 29;101(9):095502. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.095502. Epub 2008 Aug 26.

Abstract

Raman spectra of solid and fluid nitrogen to pressures up to 120 GPa and temperatures up to 2500 K reveal that the melting line exhibits a maximum near 70 GPa, followed by a triple point near 87 GPa, after which the melting temperature rises again. Fluid nitrogen remains molecular over the entire pressure range studied, and there is no sign of a fluid-fluid transition. Solid phases obtained on quenching from the melt above 48 GPa are identical to the recently discovered iota and zeta' phases. We find that kinetics plays a major role in the experimentally observed phase changes and account for the metastability of various crystalline molecular phases and the existence of an amorphous single bonded eta-N.