Brillouin scattering studies of isotopic effects in solid ammonia

Abstract

The technique of high resolution Brillouin spectroscopy has been used to determine the adiabatic elastic constants and the elasto-optic coupling (Pockels) coefficient ratios of oriented single crystals of (solid I) ND3 at temperatures near the gas–liquid–solid triple point. The values of the elastic constants at 196.0 K are C11=83.3, C12=44.0, and C44=49.6 (in units of kbar) with an estimated absolute uncertainty of ±2%. The values of the elasto-optic coefficient ratios are P12/P11=0.90 and P44/P11=0.16 for ND3 and 0.89 and 0.16 for NH3, respectively. Other than that expected from the mass ratio, no significant isotopic differences are evident.