High-Pressure Behavior of Hydrogen and Deuterium at Low Temperatures

In situ high-pressure low-temperature high-quality Raman data for hydrogen and deuterium demonstrate the presence of a novel phase, phase II', unique to deuterium and distinct from the known phase II. Phase II' of D-2 is not observed in hydrogen, making it the only phase that does not exist in both isotopes and occupies a significant part of P-T space from similar to 25 to 110 GPa and below 125 K. For H-2, the data show that below 30 K the transition to phase II happens at as low as 73 GPa. The transformation from phase II to III commences at around similar to 155 GPa and is completed by 170 GPa with the average pressure of similar to 160 GPa being slightly higher than previously thought. The updated phase diagrams of H-2 and D-2 demonstrate the difference between the isotopes at low temperatures and moderate pressures, providing new information on the phase diagrams of both elements.