Raman spectroscopy of solid nitrogen up to 374 kbar

We measured the Raman spectrum of room-temperature solid nitrogen in a diamond cell at pressures up to 374 kbar. Only the molecular stretching mode was observed. The frequency of this mode appears to increase smoothly from 2340 cm^-1 at 39 kbar to 2394 cm^-1 at 374 kbar. Between about 50 and 120 kbar, the Raman line is split into a second, higher-frequency peak, which may be associated with molecular ordering in the solid. Measurements of broadening and splitting in fluorescence lines from the ruby pressure gauge indicate that solid nitrogen is reasonably plastic up to 130 kbar. We suggest that nitrogen might serve as a useful pressure medium.