MgB2 and AlB2 at high pressures

We have studied the effect of pressure on vibrational and electronic properties of MgB₂ and AlB₂ by ab initio calculations and Raman spectroscopy. The comparison between the calculations and the Raman data puts the common assignment of a broad spectral feature near 600 cm^?1 in MgB₂ to the E _2g phonon into question. At variance with MgB₂ the Raman spectra of AlB₂ exhibit a well-defined E _2g mode indicating that the anomalous Raman spectrum encountered in MgB₂ is not related to the metallicity of the samples nor is it intrinsic to crystals of the AlB₂ structure type. A theoretical estimate of the pressure dependence of T _c in MgB₂ shows that the experimentally observed decrease of T _c under pressure is predominantly due to phonon frequency shifts.