The pressure-induced polymorphic phase transition at about 4 k bar in rubidium iodide was studied using nuclear magnetic resonance. The signature of the structural transition is a loss of echo intensity which presumably is due to an increase in the number of lattice defects as a result of the transition. The ratio of the spin–spin relaxation times of the iodine nuclei in the two phases is in agreement with the ratio predicted by a second moment calculation. The actual experimental values, however, are considerably smaller than the theoretical predictions signifying the migration of lattice defects. Estimates of the iodine spin–lattice relaxation time at atmospheric pressure indicate the necessity to include both an anharmonic Raman contribution and a covalency factor. The change in spin–lattice relaxation time with pressure as measured in the low pressure phase is dominated by the change in the lattice parameter. At the critical pressure the spin–lattice relaxation time decreases by a fractional amount which is approximately equal to the fractional volume change characterizing the transition. The pressure derivative of the spin–lattice relaxation time in the high pressure phase is nearly equal to that in the low pressure phase.
