Raman spectra of TiO2-II, TiO2-III, SnO2, and GeO2 at high pressure

Raman spectra of the orthorhombic (II) and high pressure (III) phases of titanium dioxide at pressures to 372 kbar and effects of temperature and hydrostatic pressure on Raman spectra of the tetagonal cassiterite-like phases of TiO2, GeO2 and SnO2 are described. At room temperature, the TiO2 II–III transition is sluggish, and metastable coexistence was observed from 200 to 300 kbar. The Raman spectra of TiO2-III imply that its primitive cell contains at least four formula units; however, the structure could not be established from the Raman spectra and available powder X-ray diffraction patterns. The temperature and pressure dependences of the spectrum of the tetragonal MO2 phases together with bulk moduli and thermal expansion data were used to evaluate the pure-volume and pure-temperature contributions to the isobaric temperature dependence of the Raman frequencies. Large anharmonicities in TiO2 are attributed to hybridization of the oxygen p states with the d states of the Ti ion. GeO2, where p-electron bonding is involved, is much less Enharmonic.