Toroid type high-pressure device: history and prospects

Abstract

The Toroid type high-pressure device and its predecessor, the Chechevitsa (lentil) type high-pressure device, are known to be used efficiently for the synthesis of new materials in recent decades. It was through the Chechevitsa device the first ultradense modification of silica, ‘stishovite’, was obtained. Both devices were essential for the industrial production of superhard materials in the USSR and other socialist countries. In 1980s, almost half of the world synthetic diamond and c-BN products were manufactured by these devices. However, the application of the Toroid device for examining the structure and physical properties of highly compressed substances has been considerably less appreciated. Meanwhile, the device has some unique features that have made possible 35-years of an extensive investigation of physical properties of substances at pressures up to 150 kbar, including electron transport and thermodynamic properties, elastic characteristics, viscosity, thermo-conductivity and other physical properties. Also, the device has been widely employed for structural X-ray and neutron diffraction studies of many materials. But it is not until recently that the convenience of the Toroid device for physical studies has been fully recognized. Through this recognition, the Toroid type device is today becoming increasingly popular among the researchers in the field of high pressures around the world.

Keywords:

• High pressure
• Large-volume press
• Physical properties
• Structural study
• Synthesis of new materials

Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to S. M. Stishov and O. B. Tsiok for useful discussions and assistance, as well as V. A. Sidorov and F. S. El'kin for their help in the data preparation. This work has been supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic research, Project No. 02-02-162978, Foundation for Leading Scientific Schools, Project No. NSh-307.2003.2 and Russian Science Support Foundation.