Nonlinear carbon dioxide at high pressures and temperatures.

A nonlinear molecular carbon dioxide phase IV was discovered by laser heating CO2-III (Cmca) between 12 and 30 GPa, followed by quenching to 300 K. The Raman spectrum of quenched CO2-IV exhibits a triplet bending mode nu2(O = C = O) near 650 cm (-1), suggesting a broken inversion symmetry because of bending. The 650 cm (-1) bending modes soften with increasing pressure, indicating an enhanced intermolecular interaction among neighboring bent CO2 molecules. At 80 GPa, the low-frequency vibron collapses into high-frequency phonons, and CO2-IV becomes an extended amorphous solid.