Can stress-induced changes in phonon frequencies of ZrSiO4 make it a potential IR spectroscopy-based pressure sensor?

Functional materials that can serve as high-pressure transducers are limited, making such sensor material sought after. It has been reported that hydrostatic pressures highly influence Raman shifts of ZrSiO4. Therefore, zirconium silicate has been suggested as a Raman spectroscopic pressure sensor. However, mass applications of a Raman-based sensor technology poses a wide range of challenges. We demonstrate that ZrSiO4 also exhibits pressure-dependent infrared (IR) spectra. Furthermore, the IR peaks of ZrSiO4 are sensitive to shear stresses and non-hydrostatic pressures, making this material a unique sensor for determining a variety of mechanical stresses through IR spectroscopy.