Anomalous temperature dependence in the Raman spectra of<i>l</i>-alanine: Evidence for dynamic localization

Abstract

We measured the temperature dependence of the intensity of the two lowest Raman modes in single crystals of l-alanine. The sum of the intensities obeys Maxwell-Boltzman statistics accurately from 20 to 340 K but the intensities of the individual lines are anomalous. This behavior is explained by assuming that both lines share the same degrees of freedom but that a mode instability is triggered abruptly at an occupation of seven quanta. This instability, which has an activation energy of 500 K, is observed at temperatures as low as 20 K, possibly indicating the existence of dynamic localization of vibrational energy.